


Love Will Have Its Sacrifices

by t_dactyl



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood Drinking, F/F, Human Trafficking, Nonbinary Character, Vampires, Were-Creatures, non-canon heights
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-03
Updated: 2017-10-02
Packaged: 2018-05-24 14:20:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 37,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6156406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/t_dactyl/pseuds/t_dactyl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>VampireHunter!Eli finds herself in an unfortunate situation, captured by and to be sold to the very things she hates, but things take a turn. Whether it's for better or worse she doesn't know yet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> okay so, my friend dragged me into idol hell and I couldn't help myself, my gay ass had to write a trashy vampire au. I saw this au prompt that i can't find again that was basically like, vamps are out and can own/sell blood slaves and A of the otp is a hunter that gets caught and sold to B, and i was like, yup, this is happening. 
> 
> this is written in second person POV, from Eli's perspective so, ye
> 
> also, i used my headcanon heights for this (i have a chart if anyone is interested) and there's probs gonna be headcanon genders and shit (i've been seeing some good shit on tumblr lately).
> 
> and finally, Nozomi is best girl and i love her a lot, she needs to be loved and protected, she deserves the best. that is all.

Your cell is dark and cold, the air stale and putrid in the underground where they keep you. The other prisoners are not quiet down here, moaning or screaming out their fear or discomfort, but you keep your silence. You keep your eyes closed, fighting off the panic in your chest at your dark surroundings, pushing your fear aside to focus on your current predicament. It is your own fault for ending up here, a sloppy hunt that ended with you being captured and held to be sold to the beings that you had set out to kill.

 

You can’t help but think back to the hunt that put you here.

 

//////////////////////////////

 

The streets are near deserted this time at night, most people being wise enough to stay in their homes and away from any threats that lurk in the darkness.

 

But you know that the one you’re hunting likes to use these very streets as their feeding grounds. Those bloodsuckers already have slaves in their homes to feast on, poor souls who you know you can’t save, but some even hunt people in the streets, free humans who you can help. And recently, one beast has been preying on women in this area and you’re going to be the one to put a stop to it.

 

For generations, your family has been slaying vampires and even when those monsters came out publically and basically took over, you’ve sworn to still hunt them and try to rid the world of the vampire scourge. Your task is harder now, with the vampires having control in the government and making it legal for them to feed on and keep humans for themselves, but you won’t give up, not after what they’ve done.

 

You used to have a partner, a girl two years your junior, but on a hunt gone bad, you were forced to watch as one of those leeches drained her dry and they didn’t even have the courtesy to leave her body so that she could have a proper burial. 

 

So tonight, you’re determined to take another one of those things off the streets for good, in honor of your lost friend.

 

You’ve been following this specific vampire for about two weeks now, learning his habits and you hide yourself in an alley right off his usual path. As he comes to round the corner, you’ll take him off guard, plunging the stake into his chest and then decapitating him for good measure.

 

You’re only waiting for about a half hour before you can hear him approaching. You press further into the rough brick wall behind you, keeping to the shadows as the footsteps near, reading the stake in one hand and your silver blade in the other. 

 

As he rounds the corner, you leap from your hiding spot, stake raised and ready to sink into his chest. But in a flash, he is no longer in front of you, gone from your line of sight. You whip around, searching for your target, your heart rate picking up as you realize you could be in serious trouble. Your arms raise into a defensive position with your blade and stake poised to strike. 

 

But in a split second, you’re taken off your feet by a cold, hard grip around your throat, your body slammed into the brick wall before you can blink. The rough assault makes you drop your stake, but you keep your grip on your dagger, bringing your arm up to plunge the silver into the arm that holds you captive. Your attacker must anticipate this action, because your wrist is grabbed and your hand is slammed against the wall by your head until the blade falls from your grasp.

 

In the whorl of motion, you didn’t get a good look at your attacker, not that it’s hard for you to put two and two together to know that it’s the vampire you were hunting. But as he holds you against the wall, you get a good look at his sadistically smiling face and you know for a fact that you’re in trouble. 

 

“Well, the little hunter isn’t so skilled after all.” The fingers around your throat tighten for a moment and then release slightly, your captor obviously wanting to keep you conscious for this, “By the looks of you and that blade, you’re an Ayase, but I expected more from you. Your family are all such skilled hunters, but you have failed so spectacularly. Did you think I didn’t notice you following me? Didn’t know you were trailing me all these nights? Studying me. To what? Kill me? What a laugh.”

 

You’re struggling against his hold through his monologue, trying to break free, but failing miserably. With his supernatural strength, you are no match for him without your weapons and planning. You can feel the fear creeping into you at your trapped position, ice in your veins for the first time in a while, making you flail more franticly. This could very well be the end for you and the thought jars you and your mind flashes to your younger sister, your grandmother, the partner that died the same way you’re going to now.

 

As if he can read your thoughts, your captor speaks, “Oh, you think I’m going to kill you? Honestly, I would rather enjoy that, but I think I have something better in mind. You see, while my kind would probably benefit from me just ending your pitiful little existence right here, I wouldn't be getting much out of that, maybe one good meal, but I can get that anywhere.”

 

Your eyes widen as you realize where he’s going with this and his smile widens, revealing his deadly sharp canines.

 

“Ah, you know what I intend to do now, don’t you? Do you know what some people would pay to have the honor of killing you? Or to just be able to own you, keep you as their own? Their own personal Ayase slave, and you’re such a pretty thing, they’d definitely pay a pretty penny for you.”

 

You glare and struggle to speak, “Y-you can’t.”

 

“But I can, girl. I captured you in self defense and others of my kind aren’t going to argue when I’m putting a slayer up for bid. And what are the humans going to do about it? They hold no power anymore, I can do whatever I want with you.”

 

The icy chill in your veins just grows until your limbs are stiff with fear and it’s with those last words that your captor tightens his grip and your world fades to black.

 

//////////////////////////////////

 

That’s how you find yourself here in this dank prison, waiting to be put on the auction block and sold to the highest bidder, sold to one of the bloodsuckers you had sworn to eradicate. But it isn’t too bad, you spend you time plotting on how you’re going to find a way to kill whoever is unlucky enough to buy and escape.

 

It is in the time of your brooding that the person in charge of this auction comes down to collect some of the people up for auction. You can’t tell if the person in charge is human or vampire, but it doesn’t really matter to you at this point, they don’t matter. You can’t risk fighting your way out of here, there are too many people and vampires that could stop you, your only chance is when you are alone with the person who buys you, then you have a chance of taking them by surprise and killing them before you escape.

 

Your cell is opened and you are complacent as they put the shackles on you to lead you upstairs to the auction room floor. The chains are thick and heavy around your wrists and ankles, chafing your skin and weighing you down. They stripped you of your street clothes when you woke in your cell, at least having the courtesy to not change you themselves while you were unconscious. You now sport a thin white dress, it only reaches about mid thigh and the thin straps leave you feeling very exposed. You’re barefoot now and your hair is still up and out of the way so you don’t even have your blonde hair to shield your shoulders from view.

 

You and a handful of others are led away from the cells and up a small staircase. You have to watch your step so you don’t cut your feet on the bare stone steps, but the trip up is short and soon you are led into a well lit room that is separated from another by a thick curtain.

 

This room has off white walls and thick dark carpeting, probably to muffle the sounds back here. There are benches along the walls and you and the others are led there and commanded to sit. You don’t particularly like taking orders from the likes of these people, but you obey, if only just to avoid a confrontation. 

 

“You’ll be taken out and sold, one by one. I don’t want any trouble from any of you because I won’t hesitate to kill you if you end up being more trouble than you’re worth,” says the auction representative before turning and whispering something out of the curtain.

 

In moments, there is a bustle of activity from the other side of the curtain and you can hear the murmurings of a large crowd.

 

And true to their word, the auction rep leads you out, one by one, and no one is lead back into this room, presumably sold off to the highest bidder. 

 

You’re the last to be led out and you must be something special because you get your own little introduction.

 

“Last we have a treat for you all,” the announcer starts as murmurs rise from the crowd as you come into view, “This one happens to be of the famous Ayase line. Those pesky humans that still think they can hunt us, everyone. She was caught trying to kill one of our own and brought here for one  _ very  _ lucky person to take home and do with her as they please,” the crowd roars in response but quiets when they raise a hand, “Now, let’s start the bidding at one million in US currency.”

 

The crowd is immediately in a tizzy, shouting out prices over each other and you’re not all that surprised to find that you’re worth quite a bit of money. This goes on for a hot minute, driving the price up to upwards of ten million before the crowd is suddenly silenced.

 

You hadn’t been paying much attention to the people bidding on you, your eyes focused above their heads on the far wall, but when they all quiet, it draws your attention and you search for the cause. It doesn’t take your keen eyes long to spot it.

 

There, parting the crowd with a serene look and calm stride, is a woman. Her hair is a shining violet color, obviously very long even pulled into two low pigtails. She walks with a sway in her full hips, letting the crowd part for her as she walks, her long flowing skirt trailing behind her. Her blouse is low cut and airy, revealing her ample cleavage and your eyes can’t help but be drawn there for a moment. She walks with a purpose, putting herself right in front of the stage, before her eyes meet yours. 

 

Her eyes are bright, a placid aquamarine like clear tropical seas. In that split second, your world narrows to just her, those eyes nearly putting you in a trance before her gaze leaves yours and she turns to the auction representative.

 

“Fifteen million.”

 

She spoke softly, her voice quiet and steady, but it is clear that everyone heard and that, though low, her voice commands attention. You glance at the auction representative to see that they are stiff, looking at this woman intently before nodding frantically. They are quick to close the auction, not even attempting to let anyone else bid on you anymore, and usher you off the stage and towards her by your chains.

 

When you are led over to her, you find that you tower over her by quite a few inches. She stands with the top of her head meeting about your chin, but you know from the way all the vampires are reacting that she must be someone quite powerful. She looks up at you and smiles softly before taking a grip on your chains and leading you toward where you assume is the exit. She’s silent through all this and the room mirrors her, not a soul trying to break the silence.

 

She leads you out of the auction house and the sunlight blinds you for a long moment, but she doesn't really give you time to adjust, pulling you along to what you soon find out is a car. There is a person leaning against the car as you approach and they bound toward the two of you as you approach.

 

“Did you find out why the cards said you should be here?”

 

The speaker is a bit shorter than your captor definitely shorter than you, bouncing in place, ginger hair tousled and flying around an obviously excited face.

  
Your captor looks up at you and her eyes sparkle a bit before she turns back to the ginger, “Yes, I think I did.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello again, tis i with another chapter of THIS  
> so, I like Rin using they/them so that's in here, yup  
> all mistakes are mine and whatever  
> um, idk... have fun *insert finger guns emojis*

The person beside the car introduces themself as Rin, giving their pronouns right along with their name.

 

They’re...energetic. They bound around you and your captor, making her giggle a bit before she tells Rin to calm down and get in the car.

 

Rin gets into the driver’s seat, starting the car and looking back as you are lead into the back seat and the woman gets in beside you. Her hand still rests on the chains that bind your wrists and she gives you a small smile.

 

“I’m sorry about these,” she gestures to your cuffs, “let me take care of those for you.”

 

You watch as she places both hands on your chains and in a blink, with no visible effort, she has snapped you chains, the thick, heavy metal tearing as easily as wet paper. You keep your face impassive, not giving any reaction to her show of strength, waiting for her to let her guard down. All you need to do is catch her off guard and you can escape, even if you have to throw yourself out of a moving car.

 

She gives you a small smile before turning her attention to the ginger in the front seat, “Rin-chan-” and you take your chance.

 

You grab her arm, forcing it hard up behind her while you wrap other your arm around her neck, putting her into a hold between yourself and the driver. She lets out a noise of surprise and pain which draws the attention of Rin.

 

Rin’s eyes dart to the rear view mirror, catching sight of how you have the woman and their eyes dilate before they starts to growl loudly, the sound jarring in the small car. Their focus is diverted between the road and the backseat and you feel the car swerve.

 

“Pull over,” you shout, “ pull over and I’ll let her go.”

 

Rin snarls before catching the woman’s eye, “Nozomi-chan…”

 

You feel the woman let out a deep breath, “Pull over, Rin-chan, don’t worry, it’s okay.”

 

She sounds too calm for someone in a choke hold, but you pay it no mind because you’re getting what you want, soon you’ll be free again, and then you can get your gear and kill all those bloodsuckers that locked you up and sold you.

 

Rin growls loudly again before the car slows to a stop on the side of the road. It’s only then that you realize that you’ve been driving on an empty road through the woods. You don’t know where you are, but that doesn’t matter, you just have to get out and get away. You’ll worry about finding your way home once you’re away from these people.

 

Once the car has come to a stop, you jerk your arm away from the woman’s - Nozomi you assume- neck and jerk the door open quickly. Rin looks like they’re going to come back there and bite you with their suddenly too sharp teeth but you add pressure to Nozomi’s arm, causing her to let out a short breath, “Don’t move,” you warn.

 

You scoot yourself and Nozomi to the edge of the seat and push her back into the car hard as a distraction before nearly throwing yourself out of the car.

 

Too bad you forgot that your ankles were also bound.

 

Before you can even think about finding your footing, the chain binding your legs gets pulled taut and you pitch forward, not even managing to catch yourself before your face makes contact with the ground. You lay there dazed for a moment, but the sound of a door opening makes you push up and flip yourself onto your back, arms and legs scrambling to put distance between yourself and Rin and Nozomi. You can feel blood running down your face from your aching head, but you make no move to wipe it away, your eyes on the two people while your hands scrabble at the cuffs on your ankles, trying to find a way to get them off.

 

Rin has gotten out and put themself between you and Nozomi, their body crouched and their face an angry snarl, chest rumbling in a constant threatening growl. You could swear you see their muscles twitch and spasm, body looking like it's rippling before your eyes.

 

You’re starting to panic now, these people are obviously more of a threat than you made them out to be, but in a moment, Rin starts to quiet down. You glance behind them and you see Nozomi stroking their back, whispering words you can’t hear. Rin relaxes in increments, their muscles not twitching anymore and stance less threatening, though they still keeps their eyes focused on you.

 

You can feel the blood drip off you chin and onto your bare shoulder before running down to your chest. You’re starting to feel lightheaded, but when Nozomi comes out from behind Rin and walks toward you, you still try to shuffle away.

 

“Please, relax. You scared Rin-chan, but it’s okay now, I know it’s only because you’re scared too. Now come on, you’re hurt and we’re almost home.”

 

She puts her hand out for you to take, but you flinch away.

 

“I don’t want to go with you, leave me alone!”

 

Your shouting doesn’t seem to affect her and she gives you that same small smile, like she knows something you never will, “you have to come with me, you’re important for some reason, we need you, the cards told me so.”

 

You give her an incredulous look, ignoring the blackness creeping into your vision, “I don’t give a fu-ugh.”

 

But you never finish your sentence because the darkness overtakes you as you pass out.

 

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 

Your head is killing you.

 

When you come to, that’s all you can process. For a moment, you forget your circumstances and focus on the throbbing in your skull. You can feel the flakey, stiff sensation of dried blood on your face but when you go to wipe it away, you find that your wrists are bound together and suspended above your head, holding your body upright against the wall.

 

The knowledge of your renewed captivity makes your eyes snap open, but that does nothing to tell you where you are. The room is nearly completely dark, the only light you can find is faint and seems to be coming in from what you expect to be the door of the room.

 

Your age old fear rears its ugly head and you feel the panic rising in your chest. Eyes darting around the room, your breath starts to come in harsh pants, not filling your lungs and starting to make you lightheaded. In the dark, your mind creates imaginary enemies, driving you closer and closer to complete panic causing you to cry out.

 

“Help! Someone help me!”

 

You descend into your panic, mind frantic, even though you know you should collect yourself in case your captor returns. You continue to cry out for help, struggling against your bindings and chafing your wrists raw. Even your previous cell had not been this dark.

 

In your panic, you don’t hear the hurried shuffling outside the door until the heavy piece of metal is yanked open and light floods your cell.

 

The sudden brightness blinds you for a moment, startling you out of your panic, making you fall lax in your bindings. When your eyes adjust, there is a girl in your cell, kneeling at your side hands extended toward you in concern but not touching you.

 

“Are you alright?!”

 

She’s got short brown hair and clear lavender eyes behind her glasses. Her outfit would probably fit better at a maid cafe in the city rather than some dark cell in who knows where. Your breathing is still erratic, but focusing on this girl is helping to calm you, and the fact that she left the door open to let light in helps too.

 

“I- I don’t like the dark,” you eek out.

 

She looks confused for a moment, before realization lights in her eyes, “Oh god, I’m so sorry! Nico-chan said you were dangerous and that we had to keep you down here, but you were unconscious at the time, so we didn’t put any lights on in here.”

 

You release another shaky breath but nod, “It’s alright, I just- I overreacted. It’s fine.”

 

She takes in your appearance, seemingly studying your face and she seems to just now notice the cut on your face.

 

“Oh! You’re hurt! I’ll be right back!”

 

She rushes out with a twirl of skirts, thankfully leaving the door open and letting the light from outside of the room illuminate your cell. You glance around, taking in the small room. There is no furniture, the walls a dull gray color. The door is thick and steel, taking up a large portion of the wall because the room is so small.

 

You’ve barely taken in the whole room before the girl from before is rushing back into the room, carrying a white box and breathing heavily. She hurries to your side moving quickly to set the box down and withdraw various gauze and disinfectant. She leans down to prepare her supplies and you catch a glimpse over her shoulder and you see Rin in the doorway, watching you carefully. Their heated glare makes you stiffen, jangling your chains and bringing the girl’s attention to your face and then to where you’re looking.

 

Rin catches the girl looking at them when they break your stare off.

 

“Kayo-chin, Rin doesn’t think you should be alone with her.”

 

The girl gives them a soft smile, “I’ll be fine, Rin-chan, she’s no threat to me now, especially like this.”

 

You want to take offense in her saying you’re not a threat, but she’s not wrong at this point and you want your wound dressed and that probably won’t happen if Rin decides you could hurt this girl.

 

The girl gives you a that same smile she gave Rin before she introduces herself.

 

“I’m Koizumi Hanayo, I would say it’s nice to meet you, but…” she trails off, glancing to your restraints before her eyes drop to her own hands.

 

“I’m Ayase Eli,” you say shortly, “good to meet you.”

 

She gives you a shy look before gesturing to your head with gauze in one hand and disinfectant in the other. 

 

"May I?" 

 

With a smile, you nod, letting her get the crusted blood off your face and get at the gash on your forehead. It stings badly but you keep a strong facade, not wanting to show weakness in your current situation. 

 

Hanayo is quick and efficient, having your wound cleaned and dressed in mere minutes. 

 

"There!" she says when she's done, "but you might have a concussion, from the way they said you passed out..." 

 

You brush off her concern, “I’ll be fine. I won’t fall asleep.”

 

“Ayase-san…”

 

“I’m fine,” you snap, being tired and in pain shortening your temper.

 

Your sharp tone earns you a growl from Rin as they make a move to go from the doorway into the room.

 

After a quick glance at Rin, you sigh and turn your attention back to Hanayo, “I’m sorry, but I’ll be fine. Do you know if they’ll let me out of here any time soon? Or at all?”

 

“You tried to hurt Nozomi-chan, we should let you rot in here!” Rin snarls.

 

“Rin-chan!”

 

“Kayo-chin, we told you what she tried to do, Rin can’t let that happen again!”

 

“She was captured and scared, she probably wasn’t thinking straight. She won’t do anything like that again, right?”

 

Hanayo looks to you expectantly while Rin glares.

 

You clear your throat, “I’m a vampire slayer, it’s my job to rid the world of their scourge. I won’t apologize for what I did because I see nothing wrong with hurting one of those monsters.”

 

That was obviously the wrong thing to say because Rin bolts into the room, their hand immediately around your throat, pressing you to the wall and closing off your airway.

 

“Don’t you dare call Nozomi-chan a monster! You’re the one who goes around killing people!”

 

They jerk you, knocking your already aching head against the wall, and you hear Hanayo behind them, pleading for them to let you go. They are growling in your face and you figure that this is the end, the whatever-they-are is going to kill you in some little cell in the middle of nowhere. But in the next moment, the hand on your throat is gone.

 

Nozomi is there, holding Rin with their face pressed to Nozomi's chest, the hand that was once around your throat held firmly by the wrist. 

  
She looks at you, holding Rin still as they breathe deeply by her neck, and shoots you a sly smirk, “Looks like you’re going to be trouble, Ayase-san.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WELP, there's that. hope you like this and how it's going ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> more to come at a later date and all that  
> find me at genderqueermusketeer.tumblr.com I'm usually there being gay and trying to have a good time


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo, i was writing instead of doing homework so, here ya go, a bit ahead of schedule 
> 
> also, nozomi likes collars in this, partially because i like collars, but also because that one bunny event nozomi on sif says she likes her collar and i love it ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> ALSO i forgot to mention i don't have a beta so all mistakes are mine, ye

You spend two days in that cell before anything new happens.

 

Hanayo would come every day, multiple times to care for you. You’ve been given new shackles, with more slack so you can move around your little cell and more easily be chained and released. Hanayo would always come with Rin and the two of them would make sure you’re fed and take you down the hall to use the bathroom and clean yourself. They even provide you with new, clean clothes, much to your tacit appreciation. 

 

Nozomi came in twice trying to get you to talk with her, but you’ve kept your silence, not giving her the satisfaction of speaking with her.

 

But on the third day of your stay, when the door opens for your breakfast, it is not Hanayo who walks in.

 

Instead of the slow opening and the gentle voice, the door slams open and you’re greeted by a very annoyed sounding voice.

 

“You better not try anything, you hear me! I’m not afraid to set my guard dog on your ass if there’s any funny business!”

 

In walks a very short woman, the top of her head not even reaching the tops of your shoulders. She holds the tray that Hanayo usually brings and stomps her way into the cell like she owns the place. She struts up to you and even though she is more than a head shorter than you, her presence demands your attention. Behind her, in the doorway stands a readhead. She has a side ponytail and a sour look on her face, apparently from what the other woman has said.

 

“Nico-chan! I’m not a dog! I’m a fierce, terrifying werewolf!”

 

The shorter woman rolls her eyes, “Is that so? Is that why Kotori told me she found you passed out in your wolf form because you'd found and eaten too much bread?" 

 

"Hey!" the redhead is shouting now, "She said she wouldn't tell anyone!" 

 

The two regress into bickering, completely forgetting where they are and their company apparently. 

 

"Ahem..." you clear your throat. 

 

That small sound draws their attention and their heads snap in your direction, their attention flicking to you in an instant. 

 

"Oh, right. You." This is from the shorter woman. 

 

You give her your best glare, though it's probably not all that effective what with you being chained up and all, "Yes, me." 

 

She sneers, "Don't give me that shit, you're lucky that we're even feeding you." 

 

You draw up to your full height, projecting your usual intimidating aura, "Who are you? Where's Hanayo?" 

 

Neither seem phased by your display, but the redhead bounces into the room to introduce herself. 

 

"I'm Kousaka Honoka! And this is Nico-chan!" 

 

You nod, waiting for her to continue. 

 

"Hanayo had to go into town today to run errands and Rin went with her." 

 

"Yeah, so we got roped into doing her chores." 

 

Honoka gives Nico a look, "You volunteered..." 

 

“No!” she sounds indignant, and you can’t help but think that their banter is getting old, “I was simply the best option and Nozomi thought I would do the best job.”

 

Honoka shoots you a look that she must think you understand before looking back at Nico, “Nozomi-chan mentioned that Hanayo-chan would be out and that she would be taking over her job for the day and you rushed to take the job from her.”

 

Nico stomps her foot and you fear she’ll drop your food and their whole trip down here will have been for naught.

 

“Well, what else was I supposed to do? Nozomi is too nice, she would have come down here on her own, with her guard down no less, and this whelp would have tried to hurt her again!”

 

“Hey!” you call out your offense, jerking your chains as you move toward the pair.

 

The dark haired woman glares at you, though you’re pleased to see her take a step back and closer to Honoka, “See what I mean?”

 

Sighing and calming yourself, you take a step back, moving to seat yourself on your cot, “Whatever, would you please just give me my food so that you can take me to the bathroom?”

 

Nico huffs, but keeps quiet as she drops the tray on the other side of you bed before moving back toward the door and Honoka.

 

Rolling your eyes, you reach over and pull the tray toward you, inspecting your meal for this morning.

 

“....You want me to eat pancakes with a spoon?”

 

When you meet their eyes, they give you a pointed look and you sigh before going about sawing at the food and spooning the ragged chunks into your mouth. Now that you think about it, the last couple days, all your meals have been things you can eat with a spoon- cereal, oatmeal, soups, stews. At least they are feeding you well, you think, and the food tastes pretty good, great even. But-

 

“Why the spoons though?”

 

Nico glowers at you, you think that must be her default expression at this point, “You’re dangerous. You can’t hurt anyone with a  _ spoon _ .”

 

But by the end of her sentence, quick as a whip, you pitch the spoon across the room, missing Nico’s head by mere millimeters and leaving a nice sized dent in the metal door before the spoon ricochetes and lands somewhere in the middle of the cell.

 

Nico and Honoka stand there stunned, mouths hanging open and intelligible sounds coming from them as you calmly go back to eating your pancakes but with your hands now.

 

“Don’t underestimate me.”

 

Your voice snaps them out of their stupor and Nico shouts, “Are you fucking  _ insane?! _ ” At the same time that Honoka lets out an awed, “ _ Whoa! _ ”

 

Honoka rushes up to you, nearly knocking the tray off of your lap, “That was amazing! You’re really strong, especially for a human! You might just be as strong as Umi-chan!”

 

“Honoka!” Nico starts, clearly not as impressed as the redhead, “That was not amazing, she could have killed me!”

 

Honoka waves a hand back at her, “But she didn’t, you’re fine, it’s fine! I won’t let anything happen to you, she was obviously just messing around.”

 

“I wasn’t.” You give them your most serious stare.

 

Nico gestures wildly at you while making a face at Honoka, “ _ See! _ ”

 

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” This Honoka is way too blasé in this situation for your taste.

 

“Hey,” Honoka is facing you again, “how’d you do that, really? How’d you get so strong, what’s your training like? Umi-chan trains all the time, so you must too, if you’re able to do that like nothing.”

 

The fact that this woman is just diving into casual conversation with you as if you’re old friends takes you by surprise and your mask of indifference falls as words fall from your mouth unchecked.

 

“I have trained since I was a young child, I’m strong because I have to be.”

 

You snap your mouth shut, the answer more honest than you want to be with these people, but you can’t take it back now, and Honoka has started talking again while Nico stands by the door pouting at having been dismissed and currently being ignored.

 

“Ah, Umi-chan has been training since she was small too, that explains it. But it’s still so cool how a human do that. I mean, look at Nico-chan, she has trouble lifting a big pot sometimes! Humans can be so different!”

 

That seems to be the last straw for Nico.

 

“Are you serious right now?! Why are you speaking so casually with this prisoner? Did you forget that she’s down here for a reason? And you know for a fact that the big pot in the kitchen weighs at least forty pounds when it’s full, there’s no way I could lift it on my own!”

 

The both of you stare at her after her outburst, as she stands there catching her breath and Honoka speaks after a moment.

 

“Um, I’m sorry, Nico-chan, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings or anything, and I was just trying to be nice, y’know, lessen the tension here, but… I guess that was out of line.”

 

You watch as Nico collects herself, having already finished your breakfast, and wonder if it’s possible for these two to never come down here again. You’d much prefer Hanayo’s pleasant demeanor and Rin’s distrustful looks than the emotional rollercoaster these two bring.

 

Nico seems to have calmed and addresses the both of you, “Who cares, it doesn’t matter. Let’s just get this over with so I can get the hell out of this depressing dungeon.”

 

With that, Honoka nods and they go about taking you to the bathroom and the rest of your routine, not once trying to speak with you again.

 

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 

It’s later that day, around what should be afternoon if you’re estimating correctly, that Nozomi comes again.

 

You’re in the middle of a set of pushups clad only in your bra and pants, your shirt discarded on the cot, when the door swings open.

 

You glance up to see who it is, not getting out of pushup position and roll your eyes when you see it’s her, just going back to your workout. You have to keep yourself fit for the time when the opportunity arises for you to escape.

 

She pays no heed to your obvious dismissal and saunters into the room.

 

“I heard you had quite the eventful morning with Nicocchi and Honoka-chan.”

 

You continue to ignore her, focusing on the slight burn in your muscles even as she walks further into the room and takes a seat on your cot.

 

She sighs, “I’m sorry about your current living arrangements, but this has been safest for everyone while I made something for you, Elichi.”

 

The nickname makes you falter and you look at her with a mix of incredulity and annoyance.

 

She keeps talking, not seeming to mind the look that you gave her, “Do you like your nickname? I think it’s cute, just like you! But I’m getting ahead of myself. We need you here for some reason, so I made something so that you can live upstairs in the house and you won’t hurt anyone or leave, because I know you would do either or both right now if given the chance.”

 

You keep on outwardly ignoring her, even though you are listening intently to what she’s saying at this point. You’re curious as to where she’s going with this and what she has apparently made for you, but you don’t ask, moving on from pushups to sit-ups, putting your back to her. You may not trust a vampire, but she keeps talking about how much they need you, so you can assume that she won’t try to kill you. Plus, you want to convey to her that you want her to leave as soon as possible.

 

You hear her sigh behind you, “Elichi, I know you don’t like me much now, but I’m only doing this because I have to. The cards say something is coming, something I can’t stop and they led me to you because we need you to help us with whatever this is. I need you, but I can’t let you hurt any of my friends.”

 

With your back to her and your focus on your workout, you don’t notice her moving until you feel something close around your neck.

 

You tense and panic, jolting up and reaching for your throat. There is no constriction, the weight just resting there and when you touch it, you feel what must be a collar around your neck. It isn’t too snug, sitting around your throat but leaving you with enough room to tug it and swallow comfortably with a soft lining against your skin. Around the outside are bumps and you run your fingers across them before finding the clasp. There’s a sturdy lock keeping it closed and at your discovery you look up at Nozomi with wide eyes.

 

“What the fuck is this?!”

 

She smiles calmly, unphased by your reaction, “Wow, usually I’m the one who wears the collar, but it looks pretty good on you, I knew the blue would bring out your eyes.” She shakes her head, seemingly physically changing her train of thought, “You see, these past few days, I’ve been working on that. I know how horrible it is down here, so dull and dark, and I couldn’t stand the thought of you staying down here, especially not after how Hanayo told me you reacted to the dark. So I tweaked some different spells and made that!”

 

You rush her, grabbing her by the front of the shirt and dragging so that she’s on her toes and nearly face to face with you, “What is this? What does it do?!”

 

Unperturbed by your fury she answers you, “It’s to make sure you don’t hurt anyone or leave the property. I altered a voodoo doll spell, making it so that instead of when you hurt yourself it hurts the other person, now, when you hurt someone it hurts you instead. Those little bumps on the collar have little bits from everyone here so that you can’t hurt them. Plus a little barrier spell so you can’t leave.”

 

You give her a disbelieving look, “You can’t be serious.”

 

“But I am, Elichi,” she smiles, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a needle, “Try me, but be careful.”

 

You snatch the needle from her fingers, looking at it cautiously before grabbing her wrist with your free hand and bringing her hand into view. You carefully bring the needle to her hand before sticking it into the pad of her index finger, but she doesn’t even blink. You, however, feel a prick on your own finger and bring it to your face to find a drop of blood welling up from the exact spot it should be coming from Nozomi’s hand.

 

You meet her eyes with a look of incredulousness only for her to smile back at you.

  
“I told you, Elichi,” she smiles pleasantly, “Now how about we get you out of those chains and bring you upstairs.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can you guys tell that i like ending my chapters with nozomi? cause i do
> 
> yup, that's it for now, catch ya later *finger guns* (i wish i wasn't on the computer so that i could put the emojis)
> 
> find me at genderqueermusketeer.tumblr.com as always, having no chill and bein gay


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what up, yo  
> i was going to post this like two days ago to prove my roommate wrong (that i could have quicker updates), but i started playing stardew valley and it has consumed my life and she was proven right

Once released from your chains and cell, you follow Nozomi upstairs in a daze.

 

This woman has basically rendered you helpless to anyone on this property. She’s made it so that you can’t do anything to these people, not even defend yourself if one of them tries to hurt you. You can’t believe that this has happened to you, a feared hunter from the Ayase family reduced to some helpless, captive wretch.

 

You spend the walk despairing over your current situation, not noticing your surroundings change from the dank dungeon to a nicely furnished, traditional home. The hallway is well lit, but the doors are closed and there are no pictures on the walls.

 

You’re still following Nozomi as if in a trance, having walked up some stairs and seem to be approaching a living area, when a door in the hallway opens. The sudden sound calls your attention to the doorway and you lock eyes with a woman you haven’t met yet.

 

It’s surprising to you, to lock eyes with someone, because so far, everyone has been a bit shorter than you. But this woman is only a few inches shorter than you, making it so that your eyes meet without you looking down. Her eyes are a bright amber, staring you down coldly. Her hair is a shiny navy blue, long and reaching her lower back from what you can tell. She’s wearing a button down and slacks, slippers the only thing on her feet.

 

You take this all in quickly, in the moment that it takes for Nozomi to acknowledge this person.

 

“Oh!” She starts, “Umi-chan! You haven’t met Elichi yet, have you?”

 

She continues to meet your eyes with an emotionless glare as she answers, “No, I haven’t had the pleasure.”

 

The way she says ‘pleasure’ makes you think that your meeting is the exact opposite.

 

You don’t break eye contact, not willing to show weakness and let this woman think she’s won, “Ayase Eli, good to meet you.”

 

She sneers, “Sonoda Umi.”

 

Nozomi continues the conversation, not paying any mind to your staring contest, “Where’s Kotori-chan?” She sniffs the air, “You’ve fed her recently.”

 

Umi nods, finally breaking eye contact to look at Nozomi, “It’s been awhile since she fed. Even after taking from me, she was still thirsty, so she’s with Honoka right now.”

 

Nozomi tsks, “She needs to feed more often, it’s not healthy for her to abstain for so long and then binge.”

 

Umi nods, “I’ve told her, but you know she doesn’t like feeding, she says it makes her feel guilty.”

 

Nozomi sighs, “I’ll talk to her, see if she wants to try pig blood again.”

 

You decide to add you input, even though it is clearly not needed, “Let her starve, one less parasite.”

 

Nozomi looks up at you disapprovingly, but when Umi turns to you again, her eyes are not just cold, she looks downright murderous.

 

“I will abstain from ending you where you stand just this once, out of respect for Nozomi. But if you ever say something like that about my friends in my presence, I will not hesitate.”

 

You take a step closer to her, into her personal space. Your proximity and height difference making it possible for you to look down at her, “I’d like you see you try.”

 

“Alright,” Nozomi calls, putting herself between the two of you, the brushing of her body against yours making you jerk a step back, “that’s enough. I’m going to show Elichi around the house and then to her room. I’ll see you later, Umi-chan.”

 

Umi shoots you one last warning look before nodding to Nozomi and walking away, presumably to check on Honoka and this Kotori person.

 

Nozomi turns to continue on the way you were walking and you contemplate not following her, but decide against that train of thought because you have no idea where you are and you know at least two people in this house would probably not hesitate to kill you if you step out of line. You currently have no defense against anyone here, so you think it best to do whatever this Nozomi wants for the time being. You doubt you could outrun a vampire anyway.

 

She leads you around the house, pointing out important rooms- the kitchen, bathrooms, the home gym/dojo, the living areas- before bringing you upstairs. You pass many closed doors- bedrooms, she tells you- until you get to one open door.

 

“This is your room,” she says, pushing the door open fully and gesturing inside.

 

It’s nothing fancy, not too big but not cramped. There’s a bed, bookshelf, lamp, desk, chair, and closet, with a bit of open space in the center of the room and a window above the bed.

 

After looking over the room, you look back to see Nozomi still standing in the doorway, seemingly waiting for you reaction or maybe a ‘thank you’ for the room. But you don’t want to be here and just because it’s nicer than your previous accommodations doesn't mean it’s anything other than another cell.

 

Turning away and going to the bed to take a seat, you ask, “What do you want from me? Why are you going to such lengths to keep me here?”

 

You hear her walk into your room, standing by the end of the bed, “I’m sorry about this, but my cards told me that something is going to happen to my friends and that we’ll need your help. I love my friends dearly and I can’t let anything happen to them. I won’t risk them. So I need you.”

 

You meet her gaze, hearing the passion in her voice but she sounds completely insane, “You’re keeping me here because a stack of cards told you to? Are you serious?”

 

Her face says she’s deathly serious, “The cards are never wrong.”

 

You huff in frustration and curl up on your new bed, facing away from her.

 

“Can you leave? I want to be alone.”

 

Feet shuffle toward the door, “Of course, Elichi. Dinner's at seven if you want to come down.”

 

After a moment, you hear the door shut and the footsteps disappear, leaving you alone. This is your first bit of voluntary solitude in a while and you can’t keep your strong facade any longer.

 

Pulling your pillow to your chest, the floodgates open and you’re sobbing, all your frustration and fear pouring out in the form of heavy tears. 

 

Your mind goes to Alisa, who now only has your mother, how she’s probably missing you, how your mother is probably going to push her even harder in training now that you’re not there. Then to your helplessness in this situation, the collar making you defenseless in a house full of either unknowns or hostiles.

 

Time passes without your knowledge and soon enough it’s been hours and you’ve tired yourself out, falling asleep with tears still streaking your cheeks.

 

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 

You wake the next morning a dawn, your body conditioned since youth to rise with the sun for training.

 

You feel drained emotionally, but put it behind you as you get up, stretching out the kinks in your back from sleeping in a fetal position. Moving through a few warm up stretches, you loosen your muscles in preparation for the simplified version of your morning workout.

 

With the rising of the sun, the temperature rises as well, making you sweat as you go through the motions of your workout. By the time you finish your last set of abdominal exercises, you’re nearly dripping and you feel the pleasant burn of well worked muscles. You relish the feeling, the sore muscles familiar to you since you were a child.

 

Getting up from your position on the floor, you move to go through your cool down stretches when there is a knock at your door.

 

You approach cautiously, but pull the door open quickly, dropping into a defensive stance and startling the person at the door.

 

“Oh!”

 

When you realize that your visitor is Hanayo, you relax, straightening out of your fighting stance.

 

“Oh, it’s just you. Hello, Hanayo.”

 

She looks at you, taking in your whole appearance and you watch as a blush spreads across her cheeks as she takes note of your nearly topless and sweaty form, eyes sticking to the furrow in your abdominal muscles for a long moment before darting away, “Um, yes. Hello, Ayase-san, good morning. I-I came to tell you that breakfast will be ready soon, downstairs. Y-you might want to shower first, maybe.”

 

Her eyes dart around the hallway, avoiding yours or your body at all costs, cheeks aflame. You sigh, pushing your sweaty bangs back off your forehead, “Thank you, Hanayo, and I think I will have that shower now.”

 

You turn back to your room, opening up the closet, rooting through it briefly before pulling out some clothes, “Am I right to assume that there are towels and toiletries in the bathroom?”

 

“Y-yes,” Hanayo stutters from the doorway.

 

You nod to yourself shortly and then walk out of the room, brushing past Hanayo still standing in your doorway, “Thank you.”

 

The bathroom is small and clean, a bath/shower dominating the wall across from the door, a cupboard on another wall, with a toilet and sink on the last open wall. It isn’t hard to locate the things you’ll need for your shower, though you have to sort through a layer of open and labeled bottles. You have to reach past shampoos and body washes with marker on the bottles, ‘Nico’ written in scrawl with a heart dotted ‘i’, ‘Umi’ in concise handwriting, a drawing of a cat on some.

 

You collect what you need and strip the rest of your clothes. You reach for your collar, tugging at the material to try and get it off, but after a while of struggling, you give up with a sight, resigned to cleaning under the material. 

 

Your shower is quick and efficient, not wanting to stay vulnerable for too long. In a matter of minutes, you’re out and dressed, toweling your hair as you set out to find the kitchen. 

 

You walk the hallways, taking it in now after having not paid attention during Nozomi’s tour yesterday. You’re on the second floor right now, walking past rows of doors, all closed. They are what you assume are bedrooms, seeing as how your room is on this floor as well. There is a partially open door, and when you slide it all the way open, you find that it’s just a storage closet, housing nothing of real interest to you.

 

Padding back down the way, you stop in at your room, sliding your feet into the slippers you found in your closet and dropping the towel you were using for your hair onto your desk chair. You try not to think about how odd it is that all your clothes and the slippers seem to fit you well.

 

At one end of the hall is the stairway leading down to the main floor and where you can vaguely remember the kitchen to be but at the other is a ladder a few feet off the ground leading to what you assume is the attic. For a moment, you are tempted to go and see what’s up there, since you can’t remember Nozomi ever mentioning anything about the attic (admittedly, you don’t remember much of what she said to you, but still), but your stomach rumbles loudly and you’re reminded that you haven’t eaten since yesterday.

 

You start on your way down the steps, taking them quietly. So far you haven’t run into anyone, but you don’t want to take your chances.

 

Making quick work of the stairs, your reach the ground floor. The house is large so you think you might have a bit of trouble finding the kitchen, but right as that thought passes through your mind, you catch the scent of food and decide to follow your nose.

 

The hallways are clean and quiet as you wind your way toward the smell of food, but a noise catches your attention before you can reach the scent.

 

It is faint, just barely traveling through the partially open door to reach you. A cross between a yelp and a sigh almost and a whimper following it. You quietly approach the door, your footsteps silent so you aren’t caught, and peek in.

 

The room is still dark in the early morning with the lights off, but you can see the clear image of two people in what you think is a small den.

 

At first you can’t tell what’s happening, but at your eyes adjust, you can see that one person- Nico, you realize- is facing you, but her head is tilted back and to the side, giving the other figure ample access to her neck. The other figure you can’t identify,- all you can see is their body shape and a shock of burgundy hair- has their face buried into Nico’s neck. You’re about to step away quietly with a blush staining your cheeks from obviously intruding on a private moment, but you hear a low growl fill the room. Nico whimpers again and lifts a hand to curl in that hair and you suddenly realize what’s really happening here.

 

Not sparing it another thought, you slam the door open and rush into the room.

 

“Get off of her!”

 

Your shout startles the two, the red haired figure tearing themself away from Nico and Nico clutching at her neck to stop the bleeding.

 

Wasting no time, you hurry to put yourself in between Nico and the vampire, ignoring Nico’s indignant shouts of “What the hell are you doing?!”

 

You drop into a fighting stance, ready to fight off the vampire and you finally get a good look at the person who was just sucking Nico’s blood.

 

You freeze.

  
“Maki?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ANYWAY  
> comments? questions? concerns?  
> i'll catch y'all later  
> find me at genderqueermusketeer.tumblr.com like always


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo, what up  
> tis i, again  
> this update is a little ahead of schedule because my computer broke right as i really got in to the groove and i ended up writing about 1,000 words on my phone. but no worries, i got a replacement comp real quick and shit and since i'm still on a high from that, i thought i'd go ahead and post

Standing there is Maki, looking as if nothing had changed, like you hadn't gone on that last hunt and watched her be taken and killed. She has the same hair, same eyes, her outfit is even in her usual style. It's all the same, except for the blood -Nico's blood- smeared on her lips. 

 

"What... how...?"

 

Your previous commotion obviously drew attention, and Rin rushes into the room, their eyes darting around quickly before focusing on Maki. 

 

"Maki-chan, you know you're not supposed to feed without someone there. You could have hurt Nico-chan!" 

 

Maki looks away and clenches her fists,"I know that! It just happened. Sorry." 

 

Rin nods before focusing on Nico who is still on the couch looking a bit dizzy, and ignoring your frozen form completely. 

 

"I'll take Nico-chan to get cleaned up, I can hear Nozomi-chan coming." 

 

Rin walks over and lifts Nico as if she weighs nothing, carrying her bridal style past you and toward the door. They pause just past you in the doorway and you don’t look, but you hear Nozomi step into the room.

 

“Ah,” she starts, looking down at Nico worriedly and reaching out to stroke her face, “Rin-chan, take her to Kotori-chan and then get her my special potion. She needs to replenish her fluids.”

 

The quick receding footsteps signal Rin leaving with Nico, but you have yet to take your eyes off of your old partner.

 

“Maki…”

 

She glances back at you before averting her gaze again, refusing to meet your eyes.

 

Nozomi takes this as her cue to step in.

 

“Maki-chan, you know Elichi?”

 

The use of that nickname doesn’t even bother you right now, with your supposed dead partner and friend not even looking at you.

 

Maki looks past you, at Nozomi, and you try not to let the hurt show on your face, “We were hunters together. She was there the night I died.”

 

You hear a sharp intake of breath and it takes you a moment to realize that it was you. Maki still refuses to look at you and now Nozomi is there, her hand coming to rest on Maki’s shoulder.You can’t help but feel a little pleased when you see Maki angrily shrug Nozomi’s hand off.

 

Nozomi sighs, “How are you feeling, Maki-chan?”

 

The snarl Maki directs at her makes you tense, but Nozomi is unphased, “Thirsty. I’m always thirsty.”

 

Nozomi gives her a sad look, “I know, but you have to learn to control it. You know you aren’t allowed to feed unless Miss Minami, Kotori-chan, or I am there. I’m trying to teach you restraint.”

 

Maki starts to furiously twirl her hair, a habit you know well, “Do you think I don’t know that! It just hurts so much and I only feel better when I’m feeding. I hate this!”

 

You can’t keep your silence at your once friend’s obvious suffering, “Maki…”

 

But the words freeze in your throat when her harsh glare is suddenly directed towards you.

 

“You don’t get to say anything to me! Did you even come after me? Or did you just shrug it off and go on with your life? He took my body, Eli! And you let him!”

 

Her shouts bring you back to yourself, her words boiling your blood and melting the ice in your throat, “Of course I tried to get you back! But you were already dead and I wasn’t far from it. What was I supposed to do? I had to watch him drain you dry and then take you, while I could do nothing but watch and then I had to go and tell your parents that I couldn’t save you. Do you think I wanted that? That it was easy for me?”

 

Mention of her parents gives her pause and she looks at you sadly, "how are they though, mama and papa?" 

 

You turn away, "Your father didn't take the news well. They're devastated,” you pause, “why didn’t you come back?”

 

Her hair twirling gets more frantic, you fear she might rip the strands from her scalp, Nozomi looks on worriedly.

 

“How could I?” Her voice is loud, stressed, “How could I show up as this monster? They’d hate me, they’d kill me. Or I’d kill them.”

 

Her weight shifts from foot to foot and instead of winding the hair around her finger, she is tugging now. She looks frantically at Nozomi.

 

“I- I’m thirsty again,” her voice is shaky and her breathing shallow, “I need to feed.”

 

You watch as she turns to you quickly and takes a slow step toward you, nostrils flaring, prompting you to take a step back. Her movements are like a young lion cub trying to hunt for the first time, attempting to be predatory and intimidating, but insecure and unpracticed. You don’t even have time to process that you should be afraid -that your once friend is not what you once knew- when Nozomi steps in.

 

She was so fast your mind didn’t even catch her motion, but one moment she is off to the side, and the next, she is between yourself and Maki. She presses in close to Maki, grabbing the back of her neck and forcing her down so that their foreheads are pressed together.

 

She is whispering, but her words are forceful and they travel.

 

“Maki-chan, I need you to focus now. You need to control your thirst. I will not have you disobeying me and hurting someone. Do you understand?”

 

Maki doesn’t struggle against her hold, she seems to do the opposite actually, relaxing into Nozomi’s grip and leaning her weight against the shorter woman. Maki’s hand come up and grip the hem of Nozomi’s shirt. She looks so vulnerable right now and you can’t help but think that you’re intruding upon something private right now.

 

Maki whimpers softly, “It hurts.”

 

Nozomi makes a sympathetic noise, “I know, but you learn to live with it, I promise. I just need you to do your best, I know you can get ahold of this.”

 

Maki whimpers again before nodding gently. Nozomi moves the hand on the back of her neck to stroke her cheek, placing a kiss there soon after and then moving away slowly.

 

As Nozomi starts to turn in your direction, you avert your eyes, not wanting to be caught watching such an intimate moment, even though she knows you’ve been there the whole time.

 

“Elichi,” she catches your attention softly, “Let’s head to breakfast and give Maki-chan a moment to herself.”

 

Your gaze flits back to Maki and she’s sitting on the couch, arms wrapped tight around her middle and head down. You want to go to her, to comfort your friend, but Nozomi catches your eyes and gives a subtle shake of her head. This shouldn’t affect your decision, but looking at the situation now, it might not be your place to step in anymore.

 

Nozomi leads you out into the hall, and you are quick to question her.

 

“Why is she suffering like that? Why won’t you help her?!" 

 

She turns and gives you a near condescending look, "For someone who has dedicated her life to killing our kind, you don’t seem to know much about us." 

 

You glare, "What's that supposed to mean?" 

 

She stops you outside the kitchen where you can hear activity inside. 

 

"I can't help her like you want me to. She's always going to hurt like that, we all do." 

 

Her cryptic words are frustrating you, "What do you mean?" 

 

She smiles, but it's different from the smiles you've seen from her. This one is dark and you can feel your skin start to crawl. 

 

"Elichi," she says, stepping closer to you, "the thirst is always there, for all of us. Even right now, I can hear your heartbeat, smell your blood. I want to drink from you." 

 

She's close now, too close. She had kept her distance before, but now she's  _ right there _ . Her chest is pressed to your arm and you try to ignore the pillowy warmth in favor of focusing on the dangerous look. You jerk back, hitting the wall behind you and giving her a panicked look. 

 

At your movement, her face changes, melting once again into the warm, placid smile you're used to seeing from her. 

 

"Relax, Elichi." her voice is soft again, "I have very sound control after all these years, I don’t feed without explicit consent. Ever.”

 

She turns from you, heading into the kitchen, and after a few deep breaths, you follow.

 

The kitchen is quieter than you’d expect for the number of people in it. Most of the girls are half asleep, the most obvious being Honoka with her head down on the counter and snoring. Hanayo sits between Nico and Rin, both leaning on her dozing as she watches the people making breakfast. At the stove is an ashen-haired woman, making omelets and working seamlessly in the small area with her is Umi. Nozomi has already entered and she situates herself next to Nico, bringing her around to lean on her to give Hanayo more room to breathe. No one really pays you any mind, their routine one born of familiarity and comfort with each other. 

 

You can’t help but think that you have no place here.

 

You’re standing in the doorway and you know you look lost, until the ashen-haired woman notices you.

 

“Oh!”

 

She is noticeably startled by your presence and Umi takes notice.

 

Umi is obviously distrustful of you because she glues herself to the woman’s side when she sees you.

 

“Kotori,” Umi starts, “this is the woman Honoka told us about, Ayase Eli.”

 

This woman, Kotori, smiles at you with a look to rival Nozomi’s in how pleasant and comforting it is before introducing herself.

 

“I’m Minami Kotori.” She bows slightly, “nice to meet you.”

 

You nod at her, “Ayase Eli.”

 

She smiles again while Umi glares at you and then turns to go back to making breakfast. But as she turns, she notices Honoka’s slumped form.

 

“Honoka-chan!”

 

Her voice is high and almost a whine and Honoka jerks up, revealing the little puddle of drool that had collected under her.

 

“Wha-?”

 

You watch as they have a sort of silent communication, mostly comprised of Honoka widening her eyes and jerking her head and hands and Kotori seemingly just moving her face but you can’t tell from you spot behind her. Then Kotori gives a slight head nod in your direction and Honoka gives her a pleading look. Kotori nods to you again and this time Umi glares at her over Kotori’s shoulder and Honoka straightens quickly before her eyes shoot to yours.

 

“Ayase-san!” Honoka shouts from her seat, “come sit next to me!”

 

She startles you, and you find yourself unwittingly walking over to her before you can think better of it.

 

As you take your seat, Nozomi gives you a sly smile, but you succinctly ignore her.

 

You take the seat beside Honoka and across from Nozomi. Your eyes drift to Nico who is now leaning on Nozomi’s shoulder and you check her over for signs of injury. The only thing you can see, however, is a bright pink bandage on her neck. She doesn’t look particularly thin or pale, she looks perfectly healthy, which is odd seeing as how Maki was using her as a juice box not twenty minutes ago.

 

As if reading your mind, Honoka starts to explain.

 

“Nico-chan had some of Nozomi-chan’s special potion, it helps us heal really fast whenever we give blood. I mean, Rin-chan and I heal really fast even without it, but it works wonders on humans!”

 

At the loud mention of her name, Nico looks up, catching your eye and sneering.

 

“I was just fine, I didn’t need your help.”

 

You open your mouth to shoot back a retort, but Kotori interrupts.

 

“Nico-chan,” her tone is chiding, “Ayase-san had no way of knowing that you would be fine. She was only trying to help you.”

 

Her defending you surprises you, and you stare at her back with wide eyes. But Nico is not pleased.

 

“I definitely don’t need help from some  _ slayer. _ ”

 

She spits your title like it’s the most disgusting thing she’s ever heard of and you bristle, jumping to defend yourself and the profession your family has held for generations.

 

“My family has helped people for generations! Do you know how many lives I’ve saved by getting rid of those monsters?”

 

Nico jumps from her seat, “No slayer has ever done me any good! Get off your high horse. All you are is a delusional murderer with a hero complex like every other slayer!”

 

You’re stunned by her impassioned outburst, and like the rest of the occupants of the kitchen, can only watch as she storms out of the kitchen, forcing her way past a confused Maki in the doorway.

 

Maki’s eyes immediately shoot to yours, a withering glare you’re not accustomed to having directed at you.

 

“What the fuck did you do?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ANYWAY, my gay ass is so deep in idol hell at this point that i ship literally ALL, like any ship, i'm like down for it, so stiff might be happening in this fic with like anyone/anyone, ya feel, i hope you're ready for that/cool with it  
> also, i might or might not tag the stuff/ship shit that happens as it goes along, i've got scenarios in my head but i'm not sure if they'll actually make it into the fic, so i'll see about it later 
> 
> but otherwise, i'm outtie, if you're lookin for me i'm still at genderqueermusketeer.tumblr.com, if not-catch ya on the flip side


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ey yo, this is a little late buuuuut... here you go  
> also, i have finals now so the next chapter might be even later than this one, sorry bout that  
> ALSO, when i think werewolves, i think something along the lines of the kind from underworld but not, if you wanna see how they're written in this just google "werewolf skyrim art" and it's the first thing in the images

“Why do you assume it was me?”

 

Maki steps into your space, towering over your seated form, “Don’t play dumb, it doesn’t suit you.”

 

You rise as well, using your slight height advantage to put you on level with her, “I was defending myself, my family name, and my profession- your profession. She’s the one who blew it out of proportion.”

 

Maki bristles and snarls, nearly shoving her face into yours and looks like she’s going to say something more, when Kotori steps in.

 

“Maki-chan, please calm down.”

 

Kotori places her hand on Maki’s arm and the red haired girl tenses completely before she turns. Kotori looks at her with those soft brown eyes, sending her a comforting smile and you watch in awe as Maki relaxes almost as easily as she did with Nozomi. You try not to be hurt that she is so willing to attack you- someone she’s known and worked with for so long- but will relax so easily with these women who she can’t have known more than a couple of months.

 

“Sit down and have breakfast,” Kotori coaxes, “I’ll go after Nico-chan.”

 

Maki pouts, an expression you haven't seen in awhile, and crosses her arms, “It's not like I'm worried about her or anything.”

 

Kotori gives her another smile before going to leave the room, grabbing a plate piled with food on her way out.

 

Your attention drifts back to the table of women to find most of them staring at you.

 

“What?” you know you sound defensive but you can't help it.

 

Umi is the one who speaks first, “You shouldn't paint all vampires with the same brush. There are people and things you don't know.”

 

“Nicocchi has her reasons for the way she feels,” Nozomi cuts in, “maybe she'll tell you one day.”

 

It's frustrating to have these women talk to you like they know everything, like they're talking to a child.

 

“I don't care about her reasoning, I don't care about any of this, or any of you! I don't want to be here!”

 

Your fists are clenched on the table, head down as you hold in your tears of frustration. This outburst is unlike you, but the stress is mounting and it grows harder and harder to hold on to your cold, unaffected front. You breathe deeply for a moment, collecting yourself and letting the mask fall back into place before you look up again, refusing to meet any of their eyes.

 

You clear your throat.

 

“I'm sorry, but I'm going to take my leave. Excuse me.”

 

You rise calmly, turning on your heel and striding quickly to the door. You're almost out of the kitchen when a voice calls out.

 

“Wait!”

 

Pausing in the doorway, you turn your head. Honoka has jumped from her seat and is piling food on a plate before rushing to you and shoving it into your hands.

 

“Nozomi-chan said you didn't have dinner last night,” she hurries to explain, “at least take some food with you now.”

 

Your eyes fall to the plate of food and then back to her face and in that moment, the earnest look she gives you reminds you so much of your little sister. You feel a harsh flash of pain in your heart, the deep pang from missing Alisa, but you push it away and nod at Honoka.

 

“Thank you, Honoka.”

 

She smiles brightly at you, and with one last nod and a glance at the other occupants of the room, you hastily turn away and take your leave.

 

With the heaping plate of food held carefully, you bustle your way out and away, randomly following the hallways and looking for a place to be alone and rest. You pass plenty of places to sit- a den, two sitting rooms; this place is massive, you think- but you don't stop. It isn't until you pass the dojo that you see a sliding door leading outside.

 

Being careful not to drop your quickly cooling breakfast, you hold it in one hand and pull the door open.

 

Leading out from the dojo is a massive garden. Well kept stone paths lead from the porch out toward a gazebo with blooming flowers climbing the trellis, a koi pond with fish swimming in the placid water and running fountain, a small shed presumably filled with tools to care for this garden, and the last path leads straight into the forest behind the massive house.

 

It's beautiful and peaceful, the sound of the water flowing in the pod calming to you, so you sit on the edge of the porch to eat.

 

You make quick work of your food, not wanting to give yourself too much time to sit and think about your situation, and then decide to see where the forest path goes.

 

Not bothering to check with anyone and leaving your plate to return later, you cross the yard with purposeful strides. The end of the yard is clear because the neat, well-kept lawn abruptly switches to the wild growth of the forest. The tree line marks this end and in only a few minutes of walking, the house is out of sight, blocked by the thick foliage. 

 

You tread carefully, your steps as quiet as you can make them. You encounter some wildlife- rabbits running across your path, birds and small rodents in the trees, and deer seen out of the corner of your eye- but nothing dangerous, thankfully. 

 

You don’t realize how far you’ve gone until you are stopped. 

 

There is nothing in your path, but as you take a step, you smack face first into some invisible barrier. Backing away slowly and holding your sore nose, you stare baffled in front of you. You approach cautiously with your hand outstretched and are met with what feels like a wall where there should be nothing but air. Moving left to right, you run your hands along it, feeling not openings or weaknesses. Abruptly, your mind flashes to what Nozomi said about your collar.

 

_...a little barrier spell so you can’t leave… _

 

Your hands fly to your neck, once more scrabbling at the band there. You’re suddenly feeling trapped and your breath is coming faster. Sinking to your knees, you wrap your arms around yourself, mind racing.

 

There’s no way out. You’re trapped here. The partner you once knew would now rather cuddle up with other vampires than side with you. Most of the people in this house would love to see you dead. Your sister is alone with your mother now, she’ll be forced to take your place, to take up the mantle of current family slayer. You had wanted to spare her that fate, to protect her from that, but now you’re not there to stop it. 

 

You sit there, tears leaking unnoticed from your eyes, trying to control your breathing for a while before you hear something approaching.

 

Scrambling to your feet, you frantically wipe your eye to clear your vision and face the source of the noise, falling into a defensive stance.

 

There is heavy shuffling and loud huffs of breaths and you start to panic because you know bears are common. The loud footfalls are close and you have nowhere to run, the barrier pressed to your back.

 

You watch in horror as a snout pushes through the bushes, scenting the air and presumably smelling how utterly terrified you are. You’re frozen as a massive body pushes through the foliage. Covered in a burnt orange fur, a massive beast reveals itself to you, mouth open and panting. It is tall, hunched over to walk on all fours, a bit top heavy; the muscled forelegs long and tipped with claws, longer than the hind legs that are bunched underneath as it creeps forward.

 

At this point, you’re about to collapse in fear; you’ve never seen anything like this and it most definitely is not a bear. You would probably prefer it to be a bear now that you think of it.

 

You think you might actually pass out when the creature catches your eye and drops to its belly, tongue lolling out and short tail wagging before it gives you a soft but excited ‘boof.’

 

The movement and noise jolt you, catching you so off guard that you actually whimper a bit. Seeming to finally notice how afraid you are, the creature’s face seems to fall before it lets out a high pitched whine. You’re pressed to the barrier and start to inch sideways away from its prone form when it lets out another whine and you watch in awe as it starts to spasm.

 

Before your eyes, the orange fur starts to recede and the muscles quiver as its form shrinks in size. Its head jerks from side to side, jaws snapping as the snout pulls back, teeth dulling and pulling back into the smaller mouth. In drawn out moments, the beast before you has shifted into a very naked Honoka.

 

You’re stunned.

 

“H-Ho-Honoka?”

 

Her bright, ever-present smile takes up nearly her whole face as she bounces up to you.

 

“Ayase-san!” she starts brightly, “You were gone for a while and Nozomi-chan was worried, so she sent me to sniff you out. You should be more careful, we get bears out here!”

 

Your heart is still trying to beat out of your chest, but you pull yourself together enough to respond to her, “I- I thought  _ you _ were a bear.”

 

She must find that funny, because she bursts out laughing, “Have you never seen a were before? We look nothing like bears!”

 

Slowly gaining your composure, your tense muscles start to unwind, “I’ve never seen something like you, I didn’t know what to think other than that I was about to die.”

 

Honoka abruptly stops laughing, “I wouldn’t kill you! Why would I do that?”

 

_ Other than the fact that everyone else either dislikes me or wants me dead _ , you can’t help but think. You don’t voice your thoughts but continue, “What else was I supposed to think when a large creature I’ve never encountered before came at me out of the woods.”

 

“Oh,” she says, her voice taking on a hurt quality, “I didn’t think I would scare you like that. I’m so sorry, Ayase-san.”

 

Her completely open and earnest expression once again catches you off guard and you can't help but soften, “It's alright, Honoka. You didn't know.”

 

The acceptance of her apology makes her brighten quickly and she bounds closer to you, drawing your attention to her obvious nudity. You keep your eyes averted.

 

“Well,” she says, “we should be getting back to the house, you’ve been gone so long you missed lunch! Which sucks because I helped Hanayo make rice balls and they came out great. But we saved you some, don't worry!” 

 

“Um, Honoka,” your eyes are directed at the trees behind her, “don't you think you should be putting some clothes on?”

 

The question barely phases her and she just spares a quick glance down at herself before answering.

 

“Oh, it's not a big deal, it's not like I'm going to get a cold or anything.”

 

You meet her eyes to give her a deadpan look and whip off your own shirt to hold out to her, leaving you with just your bra on top.

 

“Be that as it may, I would prefer it if you were not totally nude.”

 

She shrugs at you and puts the shirt on, the hem falling around her thighs on her shorter frame, “Man, I hope you're not a total prude like Umi-chan, that'll be no fun for anyone.”

 

You shoot her a stern look, “Just because I don't want to see you wandering the forest buck naked doesn't mean I'm a prude.”

 

She laughs and shrugs again, walking off in what you assume is the direction of the house, no doubt expecting you to follow.

 

Her dismissal annoys you and you want to argue your point, but you don't know why. You should not be having casual conversation with one of the people holding you captive, let alone trying to prove how  _ not  _ prudish you are. But Honoka gives you the same feeling you get with your younger sister, that comfortable familial sense that you can talk and joke with her, that you should look out for her. But you need to keep your distance, be calm and wait for a way out, not buddy up with any of these people.

  
So that's what you focus on as you follow Honoka back toward the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed or whatever  
> questions, comments, and convos always welcomed and encouraged  
> find me at genderqueermusketeer.tumblr.com as usual  
> catch y'all later


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sup homies  
> me again with a new chapter of THIS (really wish i could put some finger guns emojis right here)  
> ANYWAY, i finished all my finals and am officially on break rn, so more time to write but also more time for me to waste, so ye my updates will continue of the two week schedule probs  
> bros, i spent probably way too much time looking up different martial arts, like more time than i did studying for my finals ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯   
> welp, on to the stuff  
> OH! also, if you catch any errors can you tell me? i've got no beta and i might miss things - even though i think i'm pretty thorough, i try

Following Honoka is an entertaining experience. She dashes ahead, seemingly knowing these woods like the back of her hand, and then rushes back to you if she gets to far. She makes sure you're still behind her before racing off again. You can't help but be reminded of a puppy.

 

It is at one of the instances of her coming back for you that she strikes up conversation.

 

“What were you doing that far out anyway? You hit the edge of our territory.”

 

You glance her way, “I just went for a walk, I hadn’t realized I went that far. When I got there, it was like I ran into an invisible wall. I’m assuming that is the collar’s doing.”   
  


Honoka looks at you curiously as you tug at the collar before unexpectedly stepping into your personal space and shoving her head into the space between your neck and shoulder.

 

“H-Hey!”

 

She stays in your space despite your hand on her shoulder, and you feel more than hear her deep inhalation as she takes in your scent. After a moment of sniffing, she moves away on her own.

 

She nods at you seriously, “It does smell like magic. Well, magic and all my friends.”

 

“That,” you respond, “would be the thing that is to keep me from hurting anyone in the house.”

 

She looks awed at the collar, “Wow! Nozomi-chan’s magic really is cool!”

 

“That’s one way to put it,” you mutter back bitterly.

 

You’re pretty sure your tone puts her off conversation because for the rest of the walk, she is quiet.

 

It takes about an hour and a half by your estimate to get back to the house, approaching around the side with the backyard visible around the corner, and there is someone waiting for the two of you on the wraparound porch.

 

“Kotori-chan!”

 

Kotori stands on the porch, hands clasped behind her back. At your approach, she smiles brightly. Honoka bounds across the large distance in only a handful of strides, rushing to grab Kotori in a tight hug, lifting her and rubbing her cheek against Kotori’s. Kotori returns the hug, ruffling Honoka’s hair while she’s at it.

 

“Honoka-chan! You saw me a little while ago!”

 

Honoka is laughing as she sets Kotori back down, “I know, but I still miss you!”

 

Kotori giggles lightly at her honest remark before she turns to you, “Ayase-san, Nozomi-chan said I should point you in the direction of the dojo when you got back.”

 

You shoot her a questioning look, but all you get back is that soothing smile so you make your way through the house. From your earlier exploration, you have a pretty good layout of the house memorised so it is little trouble finding the dojo, especially with the noise coming from inside of it.

 

Sliding the door open, you catch flashes of blue and red as two forms attack and retreat in an intense fight. The door opening doesn’t halt their actions and you recognize the blurs as Maki and Umi.

 

As you watch, Maki uses a speed you’ve never seen from her before, vampire speed, to launch herself at Umi and, in a smooth motion you can’t help but admire, Umi slips out of the way before striking Maki in the back of the neck making her drop to the mat. Maki lies there dazed for a moment, and Umi takes this opportunity to glance to the doorway to see who opened the door. At catching sight of you, her open look falls into distrust and disinterest.

 

“Ayase. Kotori said you would be coming.”

 

Maki jerks off the ground into a stand, dusting herself off quickly with a slight flush to her cheeks and avoiding your gaze, “Eli.”

 

You nod at Umi and turn your attention to Maki.

 

“Have you let your training slip?”

 

Maki’s face flares red and she turns away from you, one arm wrapping around herself and the other reaching up to play with her hair, “I haven’t, not that it’s any of your business.”

 

“I helped train you, of course it’s my business,” you say.

 

Umi cuts in then, “There is nothing wrong with Maki’s training, she just is not accustomed to my fighting style yet.”

 

You look at her skeptically, but don’t question it, changing the subject to another question you have, “Why was I sent here?”

 

Umi points in the direction of a small table off to the side, “Hanayo left your lunch here and said Nozomi would come shortly after your arrival.”

 

You want to ignore the food and continue your line of questioning, but an untimely grumble from your stomach has you walking toward your food while avoiding the eyes of the other women in the room. Umi and Maki likewise avoid you eyes and go back to sparring.

 

There is a platter of rice balls sitting on the table, most of them neat and uniformly shaped, but there are a couple more on the lumpy side. You don’t mind the shape, working through them in a matter of minutes, noting how well the rice is made and how some of them had different things inside. Just as you are finishing, you hear the door open again.

 

Rin bounds in, rushing up to Umi - disrupting her fight with Maki - and forcing Umi to the ground. Nozomi follows after them calmly, laughing loudly at Umi’s distressed face.

 

“Rin!” Umi is struggling to get out of their hold and to get up, “This is not proper fighting technique! Stop this! Rin!”

 

Maki stands to the side as Rin keeps Umi down, laughing loudly and smiling over their shoulder at Nozomi every couple seconds. Nozomi is bent at the waist, loud gawfs now nothing but breathless giggles as Umi continues to complain loudly and thrash.

 

You meet Maki’s eyes across the room and you think that she might feel just about as awkward as you in this situation, two interlopers witnessing the obvious closeness between these three people. After a couple more long moments and more tussling on the ground, Nozomi calls out to Rin.

 

“R-Rin-chan,” she’s still catching her breath from laughing, “l-let her up. I think she’s had enough.”

 

At Nozomi’s call, Rin’s head shoots up and they are immediately moving to get off of Umi, helping the girl up while smiling brightly.

 

“Umi-chan needs to lighten up. We’re just having a little fun.”

 

Umi turns from Rin, huffing and crossing her arms as they smile and share a look with Nozomi. Nozomi offers up a sly smile and in a blink, she’s pressed up against Umi’s back, standing on her toes to put her mouth right by Umi’s ear. She’s that close but speaks loudly enough that you can hear.

 

“Oh Umi-chan,” she starts, with a pout in her voice, “Don’t be that way, we’re sorry for interrupting your training. Right, Rin-chan?”

 

Rin nods energetically before slipping around to Umi’s front, nudging their head up against Umi’s crossed arms, trying to get within the circle of her arms. As you look on, Umi visibly deflates, a sigh escaping before her arms uncross, one hand reaching back to pat Nozomi’s head and the other falling to Rin’s head.

 

“It’s alright,” there is only a hint of exasperation heard in heard voice, “But why are you two in here? You usually never step in to Maki’s training and Rin’s session with Honoka isn’t until tomorrow.”

 

Nozomi smiles up at her before stepping away, “Well, I thought we could include Elichi in training, it might be something she’d enjoy.”

 

You’re taken by surprise and you know it shows. Nozomi shoots you a smile before focusing back on Umi.

 

“Hanayo-chan said she caught Elichi on the tail end of a work out and I thought she might like to challenge herself by training with the rest of you.”

 

Umi looks over at you with a calculating stare and you unconsciously straighten your already perfect posture and square your broad shoulders. After a moment of contemplation she turns away from you and back to Nozomi.

 

“I’ll do it, so long as she doesn’t try to kill anyone.”

 

You sneer at her, but when Nozomi looks at you, you’re hit with a realization.

 

“With this collar, I’ll just be taking all the damage if we fight, how is that fair?”

 

“It’s not,” Nozomi is walking toward you now, “that’s why I’ll make it fair when you promise not to really hurt anyone.”

 

She stops a little ways in front of you, giving you time to think over the proposition and make your decision.

 

You think over the proposal. You don’t particularly want to spend more time with them than necessary, but the opportunity to let off some steam with a proper spar is too much to pass up.

 

You nod to her, “I won’t fatally wound anyone. I’d like to participate.”

 

Nozomi smiles widely at you - you forcibly ignore the tightening in your chest at such genuine happiness being caused by your actions - and comes into your personal space.

 

She slowly reaches up, soft hands skimming the skin of your neck as she curls her fingers around the collar and gently tugs you down so that her face is nearly pressed into your neck. You can feel her breath on your skin, the hot puffs making you shiver as she toys with the collar and mutters words you don’t understand.

 

After a moment, she pulls away and you try not to feel a loss at her putting distance between you. Your breath had started to quicken and you should be grateful for the distance. Whether you were feeling fear or something else - you don’t want to think about that now.

 

She’s holding something in her hand when you focus on her, three of the little studs that used to be in your collar, each faintly glowing - one red, one navy, one yellow. You immediately reach up to your neck, feeling the collar and the three distinct indents where they used to be.

 

“There you go,” she pockets the studs, “now you should be able to spar with Umi-chan, Rin-chan, and Maki-chan and only get your fair share of damage.”

 

She turns, heading to the door, leaving you still touching your collar with you and the other three people in the room looking after her.

 

“Oh, Umi-chan, Rin-chan has agreed to train today as well, to give Elichi a taste of the werewolf fighting style, I hope you don’t mind. I’ll be back when you’re done.”

 

With that, she’s out of the dojo and gone in a blink. You’re a left a bit speechless, but at the sound of Umi clearing her throat, you are snapped back to reality.

 

Turning back to Umi, you address her firmly.

 

“So what do you specialize in? What’s your skill level?”

 

She walks over to a door adjacent to the back door, opening it to reveal a large closet filled with different weapons and workout materials.

 

“I am proficient in judo, aikido, and karate with specialty in combat with weapons, kyudo being my main skill and kendo being secondary.”

 

You nod and call out, “Get some bokken.”

 

Having been taught various forms of martial arts since you were a child, you have mastery of most if not all of them including kobudo, kenjutsu, itto-ryu,  siljun dobup, karate, advanced kickboxing, traditional boxing, and sambo - your specialty.

 

Umi returns quickly, tossing you the bokken, which you catch effortlessly. Maki and Rin have moved to sit off to the side, out of harm's way. Maki looks indifferent, but Rin seems a mix of excited and anxious.

 

You both head to the middle of the room, holding the bokken at your sides, before bowing to each other. After that, you slowly raise the wooden swords, gripping them in front of your bodies before going through the traditional motions. No words need to be exchanged as you go through the motions, the clack of the swords the only noise in the room. After you’ve gone through all the forms, you face each other again, at a sword's length distance as your bokken are held crossed in front of you.

 

“Now,” you start, not even a little out of breath, “until one is disarmed?”

 

Umi meets your eyes, no strain to be seen in her either, nodding once.

 

Neither of you waste a moment as you launch at each other, swords raised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and here you've reached the bottom  
> input is always welcome, you can shoot the shit with me down in the comments or at the usual place (genderqueermusketeer.tumblr.com), i've been told i'm pretty lit  
> can you tell that i'm running out of witty things to put down here?


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo, what's up
> 
> this chaper is barely on time, the delay brought to in part by our sponsors: overwatch, dateline, and illness
> 
> lmao, anyway here you are, a look into Nico and Nozomi's backstories a bit here, this chap is a little bit longer than usual, but whatevz, have fun maybe

Light streams unhindered through the window above your bed, shining in your eyes and forcefully dragging you from unconsciousness. You groan as you wake, squinting your eyes and throwing an arm over them in hopes of blocking out the light and falling back to sleep, but your years of rising with the sun make sleep impossible and you force yourself up and out of bed. 

 

You’re sore all over from your session in the dojo yesterday. You’d won against all of them- first Umi, then Maki, and finally Rin- but at what cost. You move through your morning stretches, knowing that if you forget them your muscles will stiffen up and make movement all the more cumbersome. You don’t do your usual workout, keeping it short and low intensity to give your body a bit of a rest, but not enough for you to get lax. One of your arm stretches has your hand brush your collar and your mind flashes to Nozomi taking out the studs and somehow knowing when your bouts were finished to come in and put them back. You shake the memory off forcefully and switch arms.

 

After going through the motions by muscle memory, you make your way to the bathroom, change of clothes and towel in hand. As you approach the bathroom door, it opens and Nico walks out, face damp, bangs pinned back, and a scowl overtaking her face when she sees you.

 

You greet her anyway, trying not to remember your altercation yesterday at breakfast, “Morning, Nico.”

 

She sneers and breezes past you, muttering “slayer” under her breath as she passes.

 

You turn to face her quickly, calling out to her before she can retreat into what you assume is her room, “Why do you have such a problem with slayers? Aren’t you a human too? We do what we do for your safety.”

 

Nico only pauses enough to glare daggers over her shoulder, “The slayer that killed my father wasn’t doing it for my safety.”

 

With that, she steps into her room and slams the door, leaving you to think about what she just said.

 

You shake your head, slayers never kill without a reason; there’s no reason for Nico to be like this. You put that to the back of your mind and go about finishing your daily routine.

 

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 

After your shower, you head downstairs, catching Hanayo in the kitchen. What Nico said to you has not left your mind and it’s taking your focus from anything else, making you want to know the whole story. Hanayo seemed to be close with Nico, so she might be able to give you some information.

 

“Hanayo.”

 

She jumps slightly, probably not having heard you approaching, “A-ah! Oh, Ayase-san, good morning.”

 

Nodding at her greeting, you get straight to your point, “Nico said something about a slayer killing her father, would you happen to know anything about that?”

 

Hanayo’s head shoots up from where she was focusing on mixing something, probably breakfast, and you can see her anxiety in her eyes.

 

“I think that’s maybe something you should be asking Nico-chan about. It’s not my place to talk about it.”

 

A scowl overtakes your face, but there’s really nothing you can do. You have no intention of forcing Hanayo to talk- she’s been nothing but cordial to you and you don’t intend to pay that back with hostility. But you can’t hide your frustration at having something be alluded to and then not revealed to you.

 

Nodding at her, you respond, “I understand, I don’t mean to put you in an uncomfortable position. I’m sorry.”

 

Hanayo puts down the bowl she was mixing and faces you. Her eyes meet yours for a moment but then focus elsewhere on your face when she starts talking.

 

“It’s just that it’s personal and a touchy subject for Nico-chan and I don’t feel comfortable sharing that kind of personal information with you if Nico-chan hasn’t already. It’s not my story to tell.”

 

After she’s had her say, she turns back to making breakfast, leaving you to your own devices. You respect her loyalty to her friend and her fortitude in keeping her confidence, but it still leaves you thinking about what could have possibly happened between Nico’s father and a slayer to have him be killed. While it should be none of your concern, her hostility astounds you and makes you deathly curious to know the whole story. But it seems you will either have to have Nico tell you or forget about it because it would seem that no one would be willing to tell you otherwise.

 

You turn and exit the kitchen, leaving Hanayo to her business and decide that talking to Nico is your highest priority. This won’t stop bugging you until you know and there is no way you’re going to be able to focus on getting out of here if this is niggling at your mind the whole time. And this is as good a distraction as any from your current situation, you think almost selfishly.

 

You wholeheartedly believe in your profession as a slayer, that what you’re doing is right, but Nico’s claim that a slayer wrongfully killed her father is marring your image of what it is to be a slayer, inviting an ugly sliver of doubt to invade your mind.

 

The trip upstairs is quick, your steps once again nearly silent during your trip. You quickly scan the second floor, easily spotting the door that Nico disappeared into this morning. You’re not one for stalling or preamble, so you go right up and knock.

 

You hear grumbling and shuffling from the other side, the occupant obviously not appreciating the visitor right now. After a moment, the door swings open, a grumpy Nico on the other side. When she sees that it’s you on the other side of the door, her face visibly darkens.

 

“What do  _ you  _ want,” she snaps.

 

You disregard her tone and answer her question instead.

 

“Earlier you mentioned your father being killed by a slayer. It has not left my mind since and I want to know the whole story.”

 

Hearing what you have to say, she looks at you like you’ve lost your mind.

 

“Why the hell would I tell you anything,” she says, “It’s none of your business and I don’t need some stupid slayer trying to justify my father’s death. Why don’t you just fuck off?”

 

You should have expected this reaction, but the acid in her tone still takes you aback a bit, “I just want to know the whole story, I want to understand.”

 

Just then, as Nico is opening her mouth - probably to tell you off again - Nozomi swoops in and you can tell in just the short time you’ve been here that she is one to meddle.

 

“Nicocchi,” she says, “I think it would be a good idea to tell Elichi about it. It might help change her mind about some things. Broaden her perspective, y’know?”

 

Nico shoots Nozomi a hard glare, but doesn’t argue; instead she turns and moves back into her room, calling over her shoulder, “Fine, but not now. It’s too early for that, after breakfast I guess we’ll all just dig into my tragic past - because fuck my privacy.”

 

“We don’t have to if you really don’t want to, Nicocchi,” Nozomi says to her back, catching the door before it can fall closed.

 

You watch Nico settle back into a big plush bean bag and pick up what you think is an idol magazine before she shrugs at Nozomi, “Whatever, I don’t give a shit. If you wanna trust this slayer with all our secrets because your cards say so, who am I to stand in your way. Just don’t come to me when she stabs us all in the back.”

 

With that last parting shot, Nico bring her magazine to cover her face, obviously expecting you and Nozomi to see yourselves out.

 

Upon your exit, you turn to Nozomi.

 

“Why is the story about her father such a big deal? Why would it change the way I look at things?”

 

She gives you another of her mysterious smiles while turning toward the stairs leading down, “Be patient, Elichi, you’ll know very soon.”

 

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 

You sit impatiently through breakfast, trying to keep your eyes from sticking to Nico and Nozomi but knowing that you’re failing. It seems like an eternity before everyone is clearing away their plates and Nozomi is signaling for you to go upstairs after Nico.

 

The walk up to Nico’s room is quick and then you’re being let into Nico’s room.

 

Her room is probably the opposite of what you would expect if you just based her personality on how she’s acted towards you so far. From the glimpse you’d gotten earlier, you knew there were some bright colors, but being inside is like stepping into a plush pink wad of cotton candy. The walls are pale yellow with pink decals stuck on, the ceiling draped with white cloth with the ceiling lamp and some hanging decorations the only things coming through. The floor is tiled with alternating baby pink and bubblegum pink squares, little hearts and stars in the alternating colors. At the end of the room you see the large bean bag from earlier as well as a large pile of stuffed animals, the sheer size of some of them probably rivaling the size of Nico herself. The pile of toys is probably the reason you can’t see a bed or futon in the room at all. On the walls are a couple of what you think are idol posters, but you’ve never had much time for those kinds of things so you can’t be sure.

 

You take this all in quickly, following Nico inside. She goes over and pulls a large bear seat from the pile, dragging it over near the bean bag and is quick pull over a Totoro cushion next to it (you recognize that thing at least, you’re not totally uncultured). She throws herself into her bean bag, leaving you the choice between the bear and Totoro, so you choose the bear, sitting cautiously before realizing it has more support than you’d thought. You take a moment to shift into a more comfortable position and in that short second, Nozomi has flashed into the room. She takes in your seating arrangement before sitting on the Totoro cushion, a joyful smile taking over her face for a split second as she pats the (admittedly cute) cushion.

 

Nozomi claps, the sound loud in the silence that has fallen over the room.

 

“Should we get started?”

 

Nico shoots her a look, nodding but saying nothing, and Nozomi takes that as her queue to start talking.

 

“Well,” she says, “I met Nicocchi when she was very young. I hadn’t been in the right state of mind for a long time at that point and I had gone out in hopes that some slayer would-”

 

“Don’t.”

 

Nico cuts her off, obviously not wanting for her to go that part of the story.

 

Nozomi sends Nico a sad smile before turning back to you and continuing, “Miss Minami had just had Kotori-chan, and I felt that I was no longer needed in her life. She was all I had for such a long time that her having a child seemed like I was being replaced, that she didn't want me around anymore. It was silly of me to think that, but at the time, I really didn’t have it in me to see past those insecurities. I went to a local park, planning to wait until nightfall when I knew slayers would be out hunting. But as I sat there with my cards, a little girl came up to me and pretty much saved my life.”

 

She’s smiling adoringly at Nico and when you look over at NIco, she’s blushing faintly and looking anywhere but at Nozomi.

 

“Oh shut up, idiot.”

 

Laughing lightly, Nozomi goes to continue, but you cut her off.

 

“That’s all well and good, but what does that have to do with her father and a slayer. Nico is human which would mean that her parents are too.”

 

“Hey,” Nico is glaring at you again, “If you would let her tell the story, you would know.”

 

“Nicocchi, it’s fine, I understand her impatience. As I was saying, this little girl, Nicocchi if you hadn’t guessed, got my attention and demanded that I explain my cards to her. I went pretty slowly but after a while, her mother came along to take her home. Instead of going quietly and saying goodbye, she demanded that I be there again the next week to tell her more. And who was I to deny such a cute little girl? So it became a regular thing, with me meeting Nicocchi at the park every week. I watched her grow over the years, watched her mother come with more children over the years, Nicocchi’s siblings, and I became familiar with her family, grew to care for them. Which was why I was able to recognize her father when I found him dead in the street.”

 

You hear a sharp inhale at her last utterance, but you can’t tell whether it was yours or Nico’s.

 

Nozomi pays it little mind as she continues, only taking a moment to reach over and grasp Nico’s hand.

 

“He had been mugged at knife point and stabbed, left to bleed out on the concrete. The smell of blood had drawn me to his body and by the time I found him, he was already gone. He was a good man, he loved his family and had lived an honest life. I couldn’t just leave him there, so I took his body and called Nico’s mother. She met me at my house and I told her what happened, showed her the body. She was devastated and I offered her the only thing I could. I told her that I could bring him back, but that he’d be like me - a vampire. I explained the consequences, and she agreed to let me bring him back.”

 

Nico takes over from there.

 

“When he came back, it was like nothing had changed. My siblings were young, they didn’t notice anything was different. I barely noticed, had it not been for the fact that we had meat more often for dinner and in the back of the fridge there was a tub of blood hidden behind the vegetables where we wouldn’t look.”

 

“He refused to drink from humans,” Nozomi cuts in, “I went to teach him control like you’ve seen me do with Maki-chan, but he didn’t need it. He only ever drank the blood of pigs or cattle, never once giving himself a taste of human blood, even though his wife offered hers right when he first rose, a time when he should have been unable to refuse.”

 

Nico nods solemnly.

 

“He was an innocent, never once taking blood or killing anyone, but that didn’t matter to the slayer that killed him.”

 

You glance between Nico and Nozomi, the tension in the room palpable. They both have a stiff set to their shoulders and you are uncomfortable. The story is obviously painful for them to tell, and it’s not easy for you to hear either. Nozomi had turned a man, made him into what you see as a monster, but for the good of his family. And he hadn’t even drank from a human, how had he even been seen as a target for a slayer? In this new society where vampires are basically top dogs, one that didn’t hunt humans would be seen as low profile for most slayers, if on their radar at all. 

 

Why would a slayer target him?

 

You turn to Nozomi and Nico, not having realized you cast your gaze down, and noticed that you had asked your question aloud.

 

“Someone at the butcher must have mentioned to a slayer how much of the pig's blood her father was taking,” Nozomi says.

 

Nico takes a deep breath and picks up where Nozomi left off, “They came for him when we were out, just him and me. They murdered him right in front of me.”

 

You can’t hold your tongue any longer, “But why would a slayer do that?! He posed no threat, they could have been targeting a higher risk vampire! There’s no honor in a defenseless kill!”

 

“He was a vampire,” Nozomi gives you a sad look, “that was all the reason they needed, they didn’t care that he wasn’t going to hurt anyone.”

 

“But that’s not what being a slayer is about! We protect people! I hate vampires as much as any slayer, but that’s not how we do things!” You’re nearly shouting at this point.

 

Nico raises her voice too, “Slayers aren’t the saviors you think they are! You need to realize that maybe what you’ve been doing is wrong!”

 

“Nicocchi, Elichi,” Nozomi raises her hands in a calming gesture, “we need to calm down, we don’t want to worry the others.”

 

Once you’ve both settled a bit, she speaks again.

 

“Elichi, I wanted you to hear this story, not to condemn slayers, but so that you can see that there are no purely good or purely bad people, there are good and bad in all species. I just wanted you to start to think that maybe not all slayers are good and not all vampires are bad.”

 

Your thoughts are jumbled, their story playing back on replay, the thought of a slayer going against the unspoken code and killing a non-threat frazzling your mind to the point where you start to feel confined in this room with the two women.

 

You stand suddenly, jerking off of your cushion and startling both of the room’s other occupants.

 

“I-I’m sorry, but I need to go. I-I need to think. Please excuse me.”

  
In a rush, you turn and dash out, closing yourself in your room for the rest of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, here we are again at the end of another chapter, i have nothing witty to say to invite you guys to comment, but you can all ways say your piece in the comments if you want or reach out to me at genderqueermusketeer.tumblr.com if you want to, peace out


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo, me again  
> with all the shit that's gone down in Orlando, it's real fucked up, but that's not gonna stop us from being ourselves and living our lives, my heart is with those people and their families. homophobic assholes are not gonna stop us from doing us, so here's this. sorry to get heavy here, even though this story is kinda angsty already  
> happy belated birthday to Nozomi and Mari too, i guess  
> also, i really like cats so obviously there had to be some in this story. obviously

You finally emerge the next day, your conversation with Nico and Nozomi yesterday still on your mind. You go about with what has been your routine in your short time in the house - waking early, a short workout, breakfast with the others where they mostly seem to walk on eggshells with you, and then going train with Umi and whoever she has that day, whether it be Maki or Honoka and Rin - but you are less mentally present than you have been. You’d might have been trying to distance yourself from your situation in order to look at it objectively and look for a way out, but this isn’t your purposeful, calculating distance, this is you having a lot on your mind and not being able to focus.

 

You unconsciously start to wander the house, not paying attention to where you’re going and it leads you through the dojo and out into the back yard. The spacious yard is quiet save for the sounds of nature and the pond off to the side. You let yourself wander to the gazebo, taking a seat on the bench there.

 

The story of Nico’s father is still bothering you. A slayer is supposed to use sound judgement in identifying true threats to humankind and kill them when they are deemed dangerous. A slayer is right in killing any vampire, because they prey on humans, but one such as Nico’s father would be low on any slayer’s list if he’s on it at all. Why would someone go after him and kill him if he posed no threat to humans? And why would they kill him in front of his family? 

 

None of this made sense.

 

Slayers protect people. They do what is necessary to protect humankind. They’re not murderers, slayers are the good guys.

 

Aren’t they?

 

You cradle your head in your hands, stooped over on the bench.

 

You’ve been taught your whole life the moral code of slayers, how to do your job and uphold what is right. All slayers live by this code, or they should. Someone who carried the title of slayer should not be killing vampires that pose no threat to humans. If a vampire never harmed or intended to harm a human, their death is not justified, there is no good in killing a basically defenseless person. The slayer could justify it, saying they thought he would attack someone in the future, but with this track record, if he didn’t attack anyone in his most volatile fledgling days, there is little to nothing to indicate that he would fly off the handle in the future.

 

Then there’s the fact that they could be lying to you. Nico and Nozomi could have told you this to mess with your head, to get you to question yourself. 

 

Would they be that manipulative? Make you question what you’ve known all your life just for whatever sick game they’re playing?

 

No, you don’t think so.

 

You saw actual pain in Nico’s eyes when she spoke of her father, even after all this time. You looked into their eyes and saw what you know is honesty in those viridescent and vermillion gazes.

 

This has left your mind frazzled and you don’t quite know if you’re in the right anymore. Many of the vampires you’ve killed are just names and photos your mother has given you, have you killed an innocent too? How would you know now? Are you one of the slayers responsible for tearing a hole in a family? Were you the monster to those people? You’re agonizing over what guilt you might have when you feel something soft brush against your leg.

 

Startled, you jerk in your seat and snap your head out from your hands. Your sharp movement scares the cat that had just been rubbing on your legs and it bolts to the other side of the gazebo, crouching there and eying you cautiously.

 

“Oh.”

 

It’s a little thing, you note. A gray tabby no more than a year old. You hold your hand out calmly, a peace offering for startling the thing. It creeps closer, sniffing at your hand for a moment before butting its head against your palm and encouraging you to pet it.

 

This cute little distraction pulls you out of the whorl of your thoughts and you smile gently at the cat. After a bit of gentle head scratching, the cat takes initiative and hops up onto the bench and exposes its belly to you, assumably for more pets. You know it’s a trap, but you rub its - no, her you can see now - tummy anyway and let her sharp little claws scratch at your hand. You stay playing with the cat, steadfastly shoving your myriad of thoughts to the back of your mind for now until you feel another brush on your legs.

 

Another cat has arrived- this one all white- and is rubbing on your legs like this one had.

 

This new arrival causes the gray cat to jump down from the bench and greet the newcomer and then begin to sniff around, seemingly looking for something. They sniff around you for a moment before they start plaintively meowing at you.

 

“I’m sorry,” you say in confusion, “but I don’t know what you want.”

 

The cats obviously don’t understand you and continue to cry loudly, occasionally batting at your legs. You stare helplessly while they do this before something seems to catch their attention and they bolt out of the gazebo.

 

Your gaze lifts and you see Hanayo walking toward you holding a tray piled with cat food and a bowl of water, the cats excitedly bouncing around her legs. She doesn’t notice you until she’s right at the archway of the structure.

 

“Ah, Ayase-san! I didn’t know you were out here.”

 

You stand, unsure if you should reach out and help her with her load. Your hands are half raised awkwardly and Hanayo notices, because she smiles and nods, gesturing for you to take the tray from her.

 

“I was just thinking and my feet led me outside, it is very peaceful here.”

 

She nods, already bending down to pet the cats, “And I see that these guys came to keep you company.”

 

When the cats have had their fill of pats and go back to demanding food, Hanayo takes the food and water from the tray in your hands and sets them down for the cats.

 

She watches the cats eat before an odd look crosses her face.

 

“That’s odd,” she mutters, mostly to herself, “Keiren is missing…”

 

You notice her troubled expression immediately, “Is something wrong?”

 

This snaps her attention back to you, “Ah, not really. There are usually three of them, but Keiren isn’t here today, he must have found food somewhere else.”

 

You nod, but can’t help but note the worried look in her eyes. You decide not to mention it further.

 

“Well, what are these guys’ names then?”

 

She brightens at the prospect of telling you about these cats and you smile slightly at how kindhearted she seems to be.

 

“This white one here is Mochi - I named her - and the gray one, her name is Satsu. The last cat’s name is Keiren, he’s not here - obviously - but he’s a calico. Rin-chan named Satsu and Keiren, they love cats, but they’re allergic and the cat’s tend to get a bit skittish around them. That doesn’t stop them from coming with me to feed and play with the cats most days though.”

 

You smile down at the cats eating at your feet but then Hanayo pulls your attention back to her.

 

“Um, Ayase-san?”

 

She’s looking at you questioningly and the use of your last name rubs you the wrong way from her timid mouth.

 

“Please, call me Eli,” you find yourself saying. “If you’d like, that is.”

 

This earns you a shy smile and she continues, “Aya- Eli-san, why were you out here all alone? Is everything alright?”

 

At her question, the first thing your mind wants to do is snap at her. Do you look alright? Is anything about your situation even a little alright? But this quiet, kind woman is trying to comfort you, and you can’t find it in yourself to lash out at her. But you don’t particularly want to open up to her, so you find that the best thing for you to is to change the topic.

 

“Why are you here, Hanayo? In this house with these people. Why? Did they take you? Or buy you?”

 

Your ungraceful and abrupt change of topic frazzles her for a moment, but she answers after a second’s hesitation.

 

“I chose to be here, Eli-san.”

 

That simple statement, you don’t understand.

 

“Why would you do that? Choose to live in a house with these creatures? Aren’t you afraid that they’ll hurt you or kill you?”

 

For some reason, she’s smiling and shaking her head, “They wouldn’t hurt me, Eli-san, they’re my friends, I would even call them my family. They protect me and care for me and I try to do the same for them in return. I would never fear them, I care deeply for each of my friends, and I would hope that one day I can say that about you as well.”

 

She sounds honest, and when you look into her eyes you can find no hints of malice or lies. Her bare honesty makes you shift uncomfortably, unused to people outside family caring for those who are not blood. You are quick to redirect the conversation again.

 

“But then, how did you come to be here? What made you chose to be here?”

 

“Well,” her voice holds a bit of hesitation, “I came here with Rin-chan. A couple of years ago, I was out with them and we were attacked. Rin-chan threw themself between me and what we thought was a rabid bear or something. They saved my life but almost died in the process, and when they were all healed up, they changed for the first time. Rin-chan was having a hard time with the transition and we didn’t know what to do, so I looked into getting help for them.”

 

She has her eyes trained on the cats, only taking quick glances at you.

 

You nod to show her you’re listening.

 

“I had met Nico-chan in an idol shop in the city. We became fast friends due to our love of idols and when it became apparent that Rin-chan needed help, I reached out to Nico-chan to see if she knew anything about this. It turned out that Nico-chan had known Nozomi-chan for a long time and had been living here with her and the others, she said that Honoka-chan could help, being a born Were and all. Nico-chan talked to Nozomi-chan and they said that they would take in Rin-chan and help them with this transition, but Rin-chan didn’t want to leave me and I didn’t want that either - even if it was for their own good -, so I asked Nozomi-chan if she could claim me as her ‘blood slave’ and let me live here too. And now we’re here.”

 

The last part of her story shocks you, “Why would you  _ ask  _ to become a blood slave?”

 

“I wanted to be here for Rin-chan but I also didn’t want to become a burden in this house. Of course I was a little scared at first, but Nozomi-chan never took blood until I said I was completely sure, and she never takes without asking. _Ever_. It isn’t a bad experience. They can make it feel very nice actually,” she blushes.

 

You must give her a weird look because her blush reaches her ears and down toward her chest and she rises quickly.

 

“I think that’s enough on that for now,” she goes about gathering the empty bowls from the cats, shooing them off in the process, “and don’t think I didn’t notice you avoiding the topic earlier. I’m here to talk if you ever want or need to, Eli-san. I’ll see you later.”

 

With that, she walks off toward the house again, leaving you once again with your thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that's all for now folks  
> also, going on vacation p soon but there shouldn't be any delay in chapter posting, but just fair warning if there is  
> ya'll know i'm still at genderqueermusketeer.tumblr.com so if you don't wanna comment here, you can always shoot me something over there or whatever, all are welcome  
> until next time


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo, what's good  
> this is a day late cause yesterday was my dad's 50th birthday lmao
> 
> PLZ READ:  
> this chap contains some...slightly lewd content - between Nozomi and Honoka. It's pretty brief, but it's there. i intend for this fic to have like main pairs, but for the relationships to be pretty open and for stuff to happen between nearly everyone, that's just the way it's gonna be there while i explore the relationships between everyone, sorry if that's not everyone's cup of tea  
> ALSO - trigger warning for mention/discussion of suicidal thoughts in this chapter, even if only briefly

Your talk with Hanayo has you thinking about the people that live in this house. It makes you curious about how they all came to live here together. It makes you wonder about their lives and what they’ve been through-

 

You stop short on you walk back toward the house.

 

You shouldn’t care about the lives of these people, shouldn’t be thinking about them like this. These are the people who are holding you captive in this place. Though they treat you semi-nicely and you are well taken care of here, you must not forget that this place is just a gilded cage. A pretty prison where you are being held. You have no reason to be thinking about these people in any way other than that of your jailors.

 

With that, you straighten the set of your shoulders and walk stone faced into the house.

 

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 

Upon entering the house, you don’t notice anything amiss. It is quiet, but that’s not unusual. The occupants of the house have their own things to occupy their time, often spending time together in the living rooms or in their bedrooms. You walk the quiet halls of the first floor, still trying to shake those thoughts about these people from your head, nearly passing by the den before you notice movement out of the corner of your eye.

 

Not thinking much of it but being cautious anyway, you peer into the room.

 

You don’t know what you expected, but it wasn’t this.

 

Honoka has Nozomi pressed against the wall, the vampire’s legs wrapped around her waist. Nozomi has her face buried in Honoka’s shoulder, obviously biting her from the drops of blood that seep into the open collar of Honoka’s shirt. Honoka has her head down and pressed into Nozomi’s throat, a low pitched growl permeating the room; you’re surprised the noise hadn’t caught your attention. Honoka has one hand gripping at one of Nozomi’s thick thighs, right above her thigh highs with her fingers just brushing under the hem of her rucked up skirt, digging her fingers into supple flesh. Honoka’s other hand is hidden from your view, snaked between their bodies and moving with their undulating bodies.

 

You look on as Nozomi visibly gives another harsh suck on the wound she’s made on Honoka’s shoulder and the redhead’s hips give an answering roll, the hand between them moving at a faster pace, drawing a loud moan out of Nozomi. Nozomi has one hand knotted in red hair and the other clutches at a still clothed back. Their pace is gradually increasing as the seconds pass, the rhythmic movement of their bodies nearly reaching a fever pitch.

 

You draw in a sharp but thankfully silent breath.

 

The whole visual is too much for you and you beat a hasty retreat, speeding from the doorway before they can realize they had an audience.

 

You nearly sprint back to your room, holing yourself in there when you finally get up the stairs.

 

What was that? Was that what Hanayo meant when she said that they can make it feel good?

 

It was a known fact that vampire bites hurt, but it wasn’t as well known that a vampire could turn that pain into a more pleasurable experience. It was a fact that a lot of slayers glossed over, but with all your knowledge and training, you knew a thing or two about it. A vampire could secrete hormones in their saliva that turn the feeding experience into an inherently sexual one, and you’ve just seen that first hand.

 

You take a deep breath, falling heavily into your desk chair, stooped over with your head in your hands. This position is becoming a bit too familiar for your liking.

 

Thinking back on what you just saw, it shouldn’t have been that big of a shock to you. Nozomi is a vampire, she needs blood to live and the people in this house have made it abundantly clear that they give blood to the vampires in the house regularly. And a vampire’s bite can be a pleasurable experience that can lead to something like what Nozomi and Honoka were doing. But that knowledge doesn’t stop you from being shocked at the sight. You sort through these thoughts, rationalizing your feelings as best you can, but you can’t explain away this odd feeling in your chest. 

 

You know vampires have to feed, but that is the exact opposite of all vampire feedings you’ve ever seen. You’ve been taught to think of a vampire feeding as violent and vicious, a nefarious act to harm another for the betterment of an inhuman creature. But what you’ve just witnessed is a give and take you can’t wrap your head around. You’d known objectively that it could be made pleasurable for both parties, but seeing it first hand has left you mind boggled. And you can’t seem to identify why seeing Nozomi in that position especially has you bothered.

 

“It’s like I’m in some mad house,” you mutter to yourself, “I feel like I’m going crazy.”

 

It’s all overwhelming for you. You’re trapped in this house against your will with basically no way to escape, surrounded by people who could potentially be very dangerous to you while you have no way to defend yourself, and you’re having your lifelong ideals and your worldview challenged at every turn.

 

You’re not sure how much more of this you can take without breaking.

 

You suddenly long for the company of your sister and your grandmother. They’ve always been a comfort to you when you needed support in your life as a slayer and you wish you had that right now. You feel so alone in this house, even with Hanayo being so kind to you. You have no true allies here, not even Maki who you once trusted implicitly. Nozomi seems to think that you’ll open up to these people and become part of this group in this house, but that seems like an impossibility. These people might be tolerating you now, but you know that one wrong move and they wouldn’t hesitate to kill you, Nozomi or no Nozomi. 

 

You don’t know how much longer you can last in this house and the stress is getting to you.

 

You stand, noticing that the sun is already drooping toward the horizon from your window, intending to flop into your bed for a nap when you hear a knock on your door.

 

Glancing at the door warily, not really in the mood to get your guard up for a conversation with anyone in the house, you resignedly call out for the person to enter.

 

You aren’t able to hold back your surprise when Maki is the one that enters your room.

 

“Eli,” she says, face an impassive mask, one you’ve seen a hundred times before. Her “I don’t particularly want to be doing something but I have to” face.

 

“What do you want, Maki?”

 

She walks in, not answering you just yet, and seats herself at your recently vacated desk chair. She turns the chair toward you and gestures to the bed, inviting you to take a seat like she isn’t in  _ your  _ room. You cast that quick flash of irritation aside and sit without question, staring at her meaningfully as you sit so that she’ll answer your previous question.

 

“I heard that you spoke with Hanayo earlier and that you looked like you had a lot on your mind. Hanayo spoke to Rin about you and they said that I should come and talk to you. Not that I expect you to say much to me with what I am now, but they wouldn’t let me go until I promised that I would try.”

 

You don’t respond to her little intro, choosing to stare tacitly and wait for her to say something else. You don’t really feel like talking to her right now, but if she really seems sincere about wanting to talk to you and is not doing this just because she was told to, you just might actually be able to converse freely with her like you used to.

 

When you still don’t say anything after a long minute, she takes it upon herself to speak again, seemingly just trying to fill this awkward silence you’ve created.

 

“I know you probably don’t trust me now that I’m like this, but I’m still Maki. I’m still the same person that grew up with you and trained with you and fought by your side. I might still be a bit bitter about dying, but you were my closest friend.”

 

She stops herself there, her face immediately going a deep red at having been that honest and letting all that slip, her posture stiffening and one hand reaching up to twirl her hair and she whips her head around to look at anything but you.

 

At seeing this display, you can’t help but let a smile break its way onto your face. The outburst was unexpected from her, but her reaction to it is very familiar to you. Maybe she’s right, she is still the same Maki that you knew, the same Maki that was your best friend other than your sister. If you can look past the part that she died and is now a vampire, maybe you can be that close again.

 

“Maki, I’ve missed you.”

 

Without thinking, it slips out and you realize how true it is. You tried not to think about her and how you failed her the night she died, but being this close to her again and seeing her as she was, you can’t help but being reminded of how you refused yourself the time to properly grieve her, instead choosing to throw yourself more into your slaying. It feels good to see her again now that you’re working to not just see her as another vampire.

 

Her blush hasn’t left but she answers, “I missed you too. It’s been hard here, but everyone has been looking out for me. They’re good people, Eli.”

 

You can’t help but disagree a bit with that last bit, “How can they be good people if they’re keeping me here against my will? That’s not usually a trait of good people.”

 

“Nozomi brought you here for a reason,” she defends, “It may not be clear now, but as long as I’ve been here and from what I’ve heard she’s never been wrong, I trust her.”

 

You find yourself shaking your head, “She sired you, don’t you have to trust her? You could be saying that just because she brought you back.”

 

She scowls at you, “She may have brought me back, but I’m my own person. No one is controlling my mind or whatever it is you think is happening. I think they’re good people and you would too if you just gave them a chance and got to know them. But then again, you always were the judgemental sort.”

 

Eyebrow twitching in annoyance at her barb, you respond, “Why would I want to get to know people who keep me captive for some mysterious reason that they won’t share with me? The secrecy doesn’t really inspire confidence.”

 

“Look,” Maki has now successfully pulled her cold mask back on, “I didn’t want to be here at first either, but they were kind to me and accepted me for what I was even when I couldn’t. So I trust them and I think that Nozomi knows what she’s doing. If she says that you need to stay here and that we need you, then we do. I want to help you, but I can’t do that if you’re not willing to be open about this.”

 

“Why should I be open about this?” You are getting agitated and have to remind yourself to keep calm, “I’m being held here and you want me to open up to the people keeping me because you have some Stockholm syndrome thing going on?”

 

She frowns hard and you can see her take a calming breath as well, “I’m not telling you what you should do, I just think it’d be a good idea to get to know everyone before you pass judgement. They helped me a lot with this transition and I think you’d get along well with them if you just gave them a shot.”

 

At her mention of what she is now, your mind flashes to what you saw earlier. Maki would probably know more about it than anyone and she wanted to talk, why not ask her about it. It’ll get her to stop badgering you about opening up to these people and give you a chance to learn more about vampires.

 

“About your...transition. What was it like? Being turned, and...now?”

 

This grinds Maki to a halt and you see her think hard before answering, no doubt seeing your questioning for what it is, a not-so-sly diversion. But she goes with it and you are grateful for now.

 

“Dying sucked,” she starts, “You saw how it happened and it felt about fifty times worse than it probably looked. Feeling their teeth dig in and being aware of every drop of blood leaving your body was horrible. It stopped the pain from my other wounds but the heavy, numbness that replaced the pain just brought the reality of death to the forefront of it all. Sometimes I dream about it and it’s like reliving that moment again and again.”

 

She looks pale and scared. She shivers, recalling that night and reliving her death.

 

“After that, there was nothing. No white light or pearly gates, not even hell. Just blackness, all consuming and bleak, like a dark dreamless sleep. Then the thirst kicked in and knocked me out of it. It was like I’d just been asleep. I woke up and my body felt good as new, the only problem was the burning, aching thirst. I didn’t know what was happening at first, but Nozomi came and explained what happened, what I was now. I hated her for a while, for making me into this thing. I hated myself.”

 

It hurts you to hear this, that your dear friend had gone through this with these people she didn’t know, without you there by her side. This isn’t where you thought your conversation would go, but you can’t stop her now that she’s opening up to you about this very personal experience.

 

“What did you do then, Maki?”

 

“I didn’t want to be this - this monster, one of the things we had be trained to hunt and kill,” she won’t look you in the eye, “I lashed out at Nozomi and when I couldn’t hurt her like I wanted to, I tried to kill myself.”

 

Her words are like a hot lance through your chest and the breath leaves your lungs all at once. She pays you no mind and keeps going.

 

“I know how to kill vampires, we were taught well. It should have been easy for me to just end it, but I hesitated and by the time I worked up the will to do it, Nico-chan had found me and stopped me,” a begrudging smile worms its way onto her face. “She yelled at me and called me an idiot for trying to waste this new life that I had. She said that Nozomi brought me back because she saw good in me and knew I was worth it, that I shouldn’t just throw that away. She saved my life.”

 

You shoot her a wry grin, “Yeah, I hear Nico does that a lot.” You decide not to comment on how fondly she talks about her or the fact that she calls her ‘Nico-chan’.

 

She give you another serious look as her stares hard into your eyes, “They were there for me when I needed help the most, they proved their worth to me and accepted me into the home they made here. I trust them, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t. I know you aren’t here under the best circumstances, but I think if you just tried to be just a little more open minded, you’d see that they are good people and could be good for you. And that should mean a lot, coming from me. You know how much I hate having to rely on people like this, but they’ve become like family to me in the time that I’ve been here.”

 

The earnest look she’s giving you combined with the honest words that seems so out of character for her resonate with you. Even though you don’t trust these people, you trusted Maki at one time and would like to think you can still trust her. And you want to try to get along more with these people, if only for Maki to try and make up for the fact that you couldn’t be there for her when she needed you the most.

 

“I’ll -” you choke on the words, but force them out, “I’ll do my best to try and get along with them. If only for you.”

 

Sharp violet eyes search your face for any trace of deceit, and when she is satisfied that there is none, gives you a decisive nod before standing from her chair.

 

“Good,” she turns, heading for the door, “and don’t think I’ve forgotten how you avoided talking about yourself. You look like you could use some rest now, but I expect you to talk to me about it later.”

 

With that, she breezes out of your room, leaving you with about the same amount of questions as before, but now with one definite ally in this house. That thought is comforting enough to you that when you relax back on your bed, you are able to fall into a, thankfully, dreamless nap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that's all for now folks, you know how to reach me at this point so yup (do people even read this at this point?) comments and shit welcome or stuff on tumblr idk
> 
> also, i was thinking of doing requests, not just love live but other stuff too, would anyone be interested in that? just wondering, maybe, hit me up or whatever ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo, what up  
> this slightly late update is brought to you by overwatch, wynonna earp, pokémon go (team mystic if you were wondering), yardwork, getting my ass beat at the gym, and laziness

The next couple of days are uneventful.

 

You wake up, have breakfast, spar with whoever is willing that day, sometimes see the cats with Hanayo, loiter until dinner, and then go to bed. The people in the house are civil to you, Hanayo, Nozomi, Honoka, and sometimes Kotori making the most effort to make you feel at home. Rin is cordial though still distrustful, as is Umi, but Maki makes stunted effort to rekindle your old relationship.

 

It is one of those times when Maki has invited you into the music room while she practises that you hear the front door open and a ruckus of voices follow.

 

You glance in the direction of the noise curiously and Maki takes notice.

 

“Oh, it’s the third Saturday of the month, that must be Nico-chan’s siblings.”

 

The vampire stands and gestures with a wave for you to follow, leading you out into the hall. Glancing around the bend, you see a couple of children clamoring onto Nico and talking over each other, shouting greetings at her. The smallest one is the least enthusiastic, but Nico makes it a point to pull them close and plant a kiss on their head, unbothered by the semi-blank look she’s receiving from them and the fact that they jerk away from her brief affection.

 

“Onee-chan!” the one that looks most like Nico, if only the slightest bit smaller, is the loudest, “We couldn’t wait to see you this month! There’s this boy in my classes who doesn’t believe that you live with vampires, you have to give me proof! The great Nico-nii is not a liar!”

 

Maki snorts, drawing the attention of Nico and her siblings. Nico’s face immediately flushes a bright red, realizing you’ve both witnessed the interaction. You’re confused by what the child just called Nico, but you think it will be explained to you at some point, hopefully.

 

“Ah,” Nico turns her attention back to the children after shooting Maki a quick glare, “I’ll try and get you some proof before you have to leave today. Did mama come with you?”

 

The brown haired child is the one to speak up next, “She had to go into work suddenly - she dropped us off; she said she’s sorry and she’ll see you some other time, onee-chan.”

 

Though her reaction is subtle, you’re watching the scene with interest and you catch the small, sad sigh Nico releases. She pushes it aside quickly though and is smiling for her siblings again in less than a second.

 

She looks as if she’s about to say something when Nozomi flashes into the hall, catching the attention of the children and sending them into a tizzy again.

 

“Nozomi-oneechan!”

 

“Cocoro! Cocoa! And little Cotaro! It’s so good to see you all!”

 

Nozomi gathers the children up in her arms the oldest looking one ending up crushed into her ample bosom. You have to hold back a laugh at the dark blush that covers the child’s face from their position.

 

While Nozomi goes about nearly smothering the children, Nico turns to you and gives a brief introduction.

 

“These are my sisters and my brother. The oldest, currently drowning in the tit monster’s cleavage, is Cocoro. The one with brown hair is Cocoa, and my brother’s name is Cotaro. He’s autistic and he doesn’t really like new people; don’t upset him or I’ll end you, get it blondie?”

 

You nod wordlessly, gaze caught on the blinding smile on Nozomi’s face. Your mind stutters on just how pretty she looks just then, how her smile dimples her chubby cheeks and how some would say her smile shows too much teeth - her lips stretching so so so wide to try and encompass her joy. The little oddities of her smile make it all the more endearing to you for some reason and you can’t keep yourself from staring. All memory of her being your captor flies from your mind and all you can think of is just how beautiful this woman is, how her smile seems to fill all the dark corners in your mind with a warm glow.

 

Nico must notice how your eyes are glued to the purple haired woman because her mumble of ‘ _ oh how gay _ ’ snaps you out of your little trance. Your sudden movement draws the attention of the children away from Nozomi and to you in a hot second.

 

“Who’s that?” Cocoa asks quite bluntly.

 

Nico rolls her eyes, “Just another of Nozomi’s strays. She insists on keeping her.”

 

Laughing lightheartedly at Nico’s jibe at you, Nozomi addresses the children while gesturing to you, “This is Ayase Eli, she is staying here with us for now.”

 

You smile down at the children, nodding to each of them individually, not particularly great with meeting children. What does an adult do to make acquaintance with a child? Should you start talking about your interest in cartoons, or would that just make you look weirder? You can’t help but focus on how awkward you are in this situation.

 

“Slayer.”

 

You stiffen, eyes immediately darting to Nico’s youngest sibling, her brother, who had just spoken. He looks up at you with that same distant look, not meeting your gaze, but staring somewhere around your shoulder.

 

“What was that?”

 

Instead of answering you, he looks back to Nozomi and repeats himself, “Slayer.”

 

There is no change in Nozomi’s face, that same serene smile still in place, seemingly unsurprised by Cotaro’s declaration. “Yes, she is a slayer. Very astute, Cotaro.”

 

This send his sisters into a tizzy.

 

“Whoa, really?”

 

“Why is she here then?!”

 

Cocoro takes a step back from you while Cocoa nearly rushes you. The little brunette startles you by grabbing one of your hands in both of hers and jumping up and down.

 

“Does this mean you get to use swords and stuff? Do you fight all the time? This is so cool!”

 

You look around helplessly only to see Nico with a scowl back on her face, Maki looking indifferent, Cocoro looking slightly horrified, nothing from Cotaro, and Nozomi looking on amused. But before you can say anything in reply, Cocoro darts forward as well, grabbing her younger sister and pulling her away from you.

 

She leans in to whisper fervently to her sister, “Cocoa! Don’t you know what that means? It means she kills people like Nozomi-oneechan, Kotori-chan, and Maki-chan! She’s dangerous,” she turns her attention to Nozomi to question her, “You know she’s dangerous, right? Why is she here?!”

 

Her gaze flits between Nozomi and Nico, adamantly avoiding meeting your eyes. You understand her hesitance, but you would have thought that someone would have informed them before they came of your presence and that you are currently not a threat to anyone here. You don’t want this child to be afraid of you, but you’re not sure that there’s anything you can say in this situation to get her to trust you. She seems to have already formed her opinions of you on her own.

 

Thankfully, Nozomi steps in to placate her.

 

“Don’t you worry, little one, I have this very much under control. Elichi can’t hurt anyone here and she would never even think of hurting one of you, now would you, Elichi?”

 

You clear your throat. “I would never hurt a child,” you say on a firm nod.

 

Nozomi shoots you that beatific smile and you try not to think of how warm it makes you feel inside to have it directed toward you.

 

“See?” she goes back to speaking to the child, “Elichi is here because I need her to be, and I would never let anyone get hurt here. Do you trust me on this?”

 

You watch as Cocoro’s face goes from horrified and distressed to grudging acceptance. She glares at you for a moment before sighing and looking back to the older vampire, “I trust you, Nozomi-oneechan.”

 

Nozomi’s smile is dazzling and while you are almost pulled in again, you find that watching the blush spread across Cocoro’s face at the attention much more entertaining, and so does Nico if her snort is any indicator.

 

“Great!” Nozomi claps once, “Now that that business is out of the way, I think you all should go and greet everyone else and then spend some time with Nicocchi before you have to go home.”

 

Cocoa nods excitedly, flashing you a quick smile before darting further into the house, presumably to find the others. Cotaro follows at a more slothful pace, paying you - and everyone for that matter - no mind as he goes. Cocoro is the last to depart, eyeing you suspiciously one last time before walking off.

 

As you lose sight of the children around the corner, you sigh, the nervousness you hadn’t even noticed was weighing you down now gone with the children. You might not be particularly good with kids, but you like them and don’t want them to fear you or be uncomfortable around you, so the fact that one of them probably hates you kind of hurts your feelings - not that you’d ever mention it.

 

Nico follows her siblings with her eyes until they’re out of sight. “Well, I’ll go make sure they don’t cause too much trouble, see you.”

 

The dark haired girl power walks away, leaving you with Nozomi and Maki, that is until Maki turns and walks away without a word, seemingly done with her bonding time with you today and suspiciously following after Nico. This leaves you standing a bit awkwardly with Nozomi in the front hall. Nozomi seemingly pays no mind to your awkwardness and engages you in conversation.

 

“Thank you for helping me reassure them,” she starts. “I love them as if they are my own siblings and it means a lot to me. I want them to feel comfortable here, just like how I want you to feel comfortable here as well.”

 

She’s looking at you with those bright green eyes, that little smile curling the ends of her lips and you find it impossible to drag forth that anger and resentment that has been keeping you going lately. You can’t possibly snap at her when she’s being so seemingly open with you.

 

You give her a curt, but not unfriendly, nod. “It’s nothing, I would hate to upset a bunch of children.”

 

_ Or you _ , your mind traitorously whispers. That is not something you should be thinking about your jailor. That’s something bordering on the Stockholm syndrome you accused Maki of.

 

You try to shake it off, but when Nozomi smiles at you again, like she can read what you’re thinking, and those reprimanding thoughts fly right out of your mind.

 

“Would you like to come sit with me in the gardens? I wanna talk with you and I've heard from the others that you seem to like it out there.”

 

Her question is soft, a cautious offering, like she’s trying to coax a wild animal out of hiding. She’s being so gentle, like you’ll break, or more likely that you’ll lash out if backed into a corner or made to do something you don’t want to. The careful offer endears her just that much more to you and you are curious as to what she wants to talk to you about, so you nod your agreement.

 

She turns tacitly and leads you through the house and out into the yard. The sun is warm today, but not overbearing, with just enough cloud cover to provide shade and make the day pleasantly cool. You’re lead out to the flat stone bench by the koi pond and Nozomi seats herself at one end, leaving the whole rest of the bench for you, giving you all the space you could want.

 

She keeps her silence just for a moment, not keeping you waiting long before she jumps right in, a slightly guilty inflection in her voice.

 

“Eli.” You try not to show your surprise at her use of your name and not her chosen nickname. “I meant what I said inside. I want you to be comfortable here. I know you didn’t choose to be here and that I’m keeping you here against your will, but I want you to understand that I have to and that I would release you in a hot second if I didn’t need you here. I feel so guilty about keeping you here when you don’t want to be, but I want to make your stay here better for you. Is there anything I can do?”

 

She looks nothing short of pleading and remorseful, her hands clasped in her lap, trying not to twist and fidget the digits.

 

“Nozomi-”

 

But she cuts you off.

 

“I just need you to try to understand, I would do anything for my family, the family that I’ve made here. Wouldn’t you?”

 

Your mind flashes immediately to your sister, your grandmother, the two people you hold dearest. You would do anything for them, no questions asked, if it meant that they’d be kept safe. Even now, you worry for them and what Alisa will have to be doing now that you’re not there to be the Ayase family slayer. Having seen Nico’s siblings today has brought your longing to see your sister to the forefront of your mind, though you try not to focus on the pang it causes in your chest.

 

When she puts it that way, you can’t help but empathise with her, to look at this from her perspective. You are apparently the one thing that she needs to keep her family alive, to ensure their safety. The lengths she has gone to to keep you here just prove how hard she is willing to fight for this, how ready she is to do anything for these people. You want to keep your anger, but, despite her methods, you can’t really fault her for this. A great danger is coming - or so she says - and she needs you.

 

“I understand.”

 

Her head snaps up, the thin sheen of tears clearly visible in those bright eyes. She is obviously taken by surprise, but you don’t stick around to hear anything else. You might understand her reasoning, but that doesn’t mean you forgive what she’s done to you and you don’t want to talk anymore. If you want anything from her, you’ll find her later. You rise quickly and head back to the house.

  
You spend the rest of the day in the dojo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you guys know where to find me, do i gotta write it?  
> also, I'm open to requests or ideas for little fics if anyone wants to share or whatever idk, yolo  
> until next time, homies


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo, what up homies, back at it again with that love live shit lmao  
> if you watch steven universe, you can understand why this is a day late. i just want jasper, that's all.  
> ANYWAY,  
> IMPORTANT!!!!!  
> in this chapter there is a death of an animal, a bit graphic and the animal was used in a ritualistic sacrifice that is mentioned but not detailed. so trigger warning for that animal cruelty, i'm real sorry bout this dudes, but we're movin along with major plot shit here

A few days pass, your bonds with these people growing bit by bit, over training or food or siblings. You are starting to fall into a cautiously more relaxed routine when one morning you are jerked from rest by a commotion downstairs.

 

Jumping from your bed, you rush out of your room and run down the stairs. The loud wails are coming the living room and when you skid to a stop in the doorway, you see everyone gathered there looking morose as Rin cries loudly while being held by a teary Hanayo.

 

The sight is worrying and you can’t help but ask, “What’s wrong? What’s happened?”

 

Umi is the one who answers, “We received a package today, the contents of which is quite disturbing.”

 

Her face is a seemingly indifferent mask, but her fists are clenched and you can see how she trembles slightly from her spot close to Kotori. She gestures to the unmarked box left open on the coffee table. No one looks at the box, all steadfastly avoiding even glancing in its direction and you take a deep breath, ignoring the strange scent in the room, steeling yourself for what you might see in the box.

 

You peer over the lip of the box and realize this is where the smell is coming from - it's blood and decaying flesh. You have to slap a hand over your mouth to stop yourself from gagging at the gruesome sight. Inside is a domestic cat, flayed open from chin to tail. Its innards are torn asunder, the intestines a mess in the box. Aside from the glaringly obvious incision, there are markings carved into the flesh of the poor animal, fur pulled back to reveal the flesh that is showing signs of rotting. This was without a doubt a cruel message for the occupants of the house, but you can't believe that someone would be this horrible to an innocent animal.

 

You tear your gaze away from the box, not able to stand the sight for a moment longer, and meet Hanayo’s tearful gaze.

 

“It’s-” she has to pause on a sob, “It’s Keiren.”

 

Rin wails when they hear the name, obviously devastated by the death of one of their beloved cats. You watch as their face morphs from anguish to anger, their red rimmed eyes lighting with their fury as they glance back down at the box.

 

“I’ll kill them,” they snarl, “I’ll tear them apart like they did Keiren. I’ll slaughter them!”

 

The venom with which they say it leaves no doubt in your mind that they fully intend to do just that. No one in the room says anything in opposition, leaving Rin’s acidic declaration to settle in the air like a heavy smog.

 

With the heavy atmosphere, you can’t help but feel extremely uncomfortable and you’re relieved when Nozomi speaks up.

 

“I think we should give Keiren a proper funeral. He doesn’t deserve this and we should put him to rest.”

 

The other occupants of the house give their tacit approval and Nozomi goes forward to take the box. Rin sobs as Nozomi moves the box and they bury their face back into Hanayo’s shoulder again. Nozomi sends them a sad look, her eyes shiny as well, but there is something else you can see in their depths. Just as Nozomi is about to leave the room, she meets your eyes and gestures subtly for you to follow her. Not wanting to make a scene, you bow out quietly behind her.

 

She is moving quickly, already nearly up the stairs as you enter the hallway and you have to rush a bit so you don’t lose sight of her. At the end of the second floor hallway, she reaches for the ladder coming down from the ceiling, balancing the box in one hand. She pulls it down and looks back only for a moment to make sure you’re still following before she flits up into the unknown with her vampire speed.

 

You can do nothing but follow.

 

The ladder is no large feat and you scale it quickly. It lets you out into the attic that you assume Nozomi has commandeered for herself.

 

The space is dark, like the world at dusk, the windows shaded with wispy lilac curtains and the lamps all dimmed considerably with candles spread throughout the room. The space is open, with a futon and odd plush toys visible in the far corner and what looks like a workstation not even five feet from the ladder. It’s not cluttered too badly, but you can see weird looking potions and substances spread around the room and a large pot and a hot plate not far from the workstation. The walls are covered in bookshelves that contain books ranging from being aged and worn to new and barely opened, as well as scrolls that look like they’re ancient.

 

By the time that you’ve taken in the room, Nozomi is by her workstation, placing the box containing the cat down on the table after shoving the other things to the side.

 

“Eli,” her voice is as serious as you’ve ever heard it and she uses your given name, so you know she’s not in any type of teasing mood, “this is more serious than anyone downstairs realizes.”

 

She quickly lays down a towel and pulls on some rubber gloves, reaching into the box and carefully placing the dead animal on the towel. You try not to be sickened by the sight and sound but you know you’re paler than usual at this point. Nozomi, however, doesn’t flinch as she examines the cat.

 

“This is a threat, Eli.”

 

You move your gaze from the butchered animal to meet hers and you see the unhindered worry there.

 

She lifts the flank of the cat and gestures to the symbol carved into the flesh there, “These are pagan symbols. Keiren was a sacrifice to a very large demon. They traded his life for the ability to communicate with it and they obviously have some connection to us if they chose Keiren and knew to drop him on our doorstep.”

 

The odd symbols in the bloody flesh look all the more horrific with her explanation and you can’t help but feel dread creep into you blood.

 

“Why would someone be targeting you? Do you have any enemies that would have connections to demons or paganism?”

 

You should be glad that someone intends harm on the people keeping you, what with the enemy of your enemy being your friend and all, but with the way they’ve treated you so far and how hurt they all seemed at the loss of the cat, you can’t help but feel something other than distaste for them. They obviously cared for the cat and someone who can love an animal like that can’t be totally evil, so you can’t help but feel for them, especially after how they’ve been trying to bond more with you.

 

Nozomi gives you a sad smile, “I have plenty of enemies, you don’t live for as long as I have and not make a few.”

 

You sigh and run your hand through your bangs, pushing them back.

 

“Well, do you have any that you can think of that would do something like this?”

 

You don’t know anything about demons or demonology or paganism or anything of the sort, having thought that tales of oni and the like were just things you told children to make them be more careful. You’re completely out of your element here, just like you were when you saw Honoka in her wolven form for the first time. You have no idea how you can be of any help in this situation. If this is the thing that Nozomi said they needed you for when she brought you here, she’s got the wrong woman for the job.

 

Nozomi continues to stoically examine the corpse, answering without looking up at you, “No one that I can think of, really. This type of dark magic and summoning isn’t something that you come across often, if at all. Most people are hesitant to use magic like this, but whoever did this is obviously familiar with it. Could you pass me that book? The old one with the pentagram on it?”

 

You carefully shuffle over to the shelf she gestured to and pull a dusty tome, wrinkling your nose when the loosened dusty tickles at it. If Nozomi can’t think of anyone that would do this, that means that they’re facing an unknown enemy, one of the most dangerous kinds of foe. You ponder your predicament as you hand her the book and she quickly pulls off her gloves to leaf through it.

 

“These markings mean that the sacrifice had to be of a beloved creature, which he obviously was, and they were only opening a small communication channel. Whatever they were contacting must be awfully powerful to be able to use such a small sacrifice to open a channel. What is so surprising to me is that no one caught sight or scent of them on our lands and that they were able to do this without one of us noticing.”

 

That fact also worries you. It must be a formidable adversary to be able to sneak into their territory, past two werewolves and three vampires, and do something like this and then leave the evidence right on their doorstep in a sort of threatening taunt.

 

“How could they have done that? Gotten in here without you knowing?”

 

Nozomi is getting agitated, flipping more hurriedly through the tome and fidgeting a bit where she stands, something you’ve never seen from her, “I don’t know, something like this has never happened before.”

 

She looks up and locks eyes with you, the worry shining through clearly in her eyes, “I don’t know what to do, Eli. How am I supposed to protect my family if I don't even know what we’re up against?”

 

This vulnerable Nozomi is one you’re not used to and you’re not sure what you should do. She looks at you like you might have the answers and seeing her like this tugs at something in your chest that makes you  _ want  _ to have the answers for her. Usually she is assured in herself and what she’s doing, but seeing her like this makes you uncomfortable - this is not how she should be, no one should make her look like this. It makes you want to comfort her, you realize, you want to comfort this woman who is holding you here but treating you like an honored guest. It feels odd to you, but you can’t help what you’re feeling.

 

“Uh-,” you cut yourself off, take a moment to think through what to say to her, “I don’t know anything about this stuff, but I’ll try to help if I can. But I think what we have to do now is get pictures of these marks for later and give Keiren the burial he deserves.”

 

The words must have been the right thing to say because Nozomi looks at you like you just solved all their problems.

 

She takes a deep breath and wipes her eyes discreetly, “You’re right, we have to put him to rest and then get looking into what thinks it can fuck with my family and get away with it.”

 

The change is visible, she puts on a strong front as easily as you do, probably from excessive practise, same as you. If anyone understands putting on a strong mask for your family, it’s you.

 

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 

Nozomi cleans up the cat, stitching closed his wounds after she’s taken thorough photos, and puts him in a little wooden coffin that she made from spare wood she just so happened to happen to have in her room (you thought it odd, but didn’t question it).

 

Everyone in the house processes out into the yard with Rin in the front, having insisted on carrying the coffin and leading the procession. They have yet to stop crying and the sight is honestly heartbreaking for you. You’d never been allowed to have a pet but you can only imagine how devastating it is to lose them and in such a horrific and gruesome way.

 

You all head out into the yard and Umi rushes to the shed and returns with a shovel. She goes over behind the gazebo where Rin and Hanayo would play with the cats and starts to dig. In a flash, Maki darts into the forest and returns with a moderately sized stone, carrying it like nothing, to use as a marker for the grave.

 

You’re all quiet, save for the sniffles, low crying, and Rin’s sobs over the little coffin. As Umi digs, now assisted by Maki to make things faster, you stand at the edge of the circle, not wanting to intrude on this moment, but feeling like you should be there in respect to Rin and Hanayo.

 

After a bit more digging, the hole is deep enough and the two step back to allow Rin one last moment before they have to lower the box into the ground.

 

“Keiren,” Rin’s voice is hoarse from crying and barely audible to you from where you stand, “You were a good cat and you didn’t deserve this. I’ll find whoever did this and make them pay. You rest now, we love you.”

 

You find it hard to keep tear from your eyes at this point, but your practise on keeping a straight face comes in handy right now, especially when you see the other two cats creeping closer to the commotion trying to figure out what’s happening.

 

When Rin sees the other cats, they cry just that much harder and gently lower the box into the ground. Hanayo, just barely more composed, steps forward then to pull Rin into her arms. After a moment, Honoka and Kotori join in, wrapping their arms round the two, initiating a bigger hug. Then Nozomi is stepping forward to join as well, pulling Umi and Maki with her and sending Nico a look that prompts her to join as well. They stand like that for a while, and you watch on the outskirts, feeling like an outsider and out of place witnessing this moment of intimacy between them all, but just as you are about to creep away and leave them, Nozomi catches your eye and gestures for you to join as well. You are indecisive whether you should, but Maki looks up to and nods firmly, making you step forward to slot yourself into the giant group hug.

 

Time passes with you all huddled together in the yard above the grave, and standing there pressed into the hug, you can feel an odd warmth bloom in your chest that feels oddly reminiscent of what you feel when hugging your sister.

 

You try to pay it no mind.

 

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

  
In the tender, tear filled moment, you all fail to notice the figure lurking just beyond the treeline.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that's that and all, questions, comments and concerns always welcome, and y'all know where to find me  
> i posted this today (8/2) cause that means exactly two weeks from now is my birthday and i can post that gift for you guys lmao  
> see you next time bros


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO AGAIN, IT'S MY BIRTHDAY GUYS (8/16) (technically i wasn't born until 11 am, but who gives a shit, it's past midnight so it's my birthday)
> 
> anyway, here's the chapter
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING:  
> -there's a bit of blood in this chapter, not tons, but a bit (but this is a vampire au so i would think if you're here that it's okay)  
> -also, a little scene of self harm, not major but she does have to cut herself for something so... it's there
> 
> i'm not really sure how to trigger warn really

Everyone is on high alert the days following the death of Keiren. You can feel the tension in the house as everyone pretends to be calm. But you can see the worry in all of them, the way Umi fights just that much harder in training, how Rin and Honoka spend more time in their wolven forms patrolling the territory, how Maki spends more time hovering near Nico and Hanayo, how Nico calls her siblings to tell them not to visit for a bit, how Kotori fidgets with anxiety, and how Nozomi spends most of her time up in her attic room. You can feel the tension constantly and you do your best not to add to it. You’re trying to remain calm, but with the threat of something bigger looming over all of your heads, it’s a struggle.

 

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 

“Eli-san!”

 

You jerk in surprise, dropping the book you were reading, rearing back, and swinging your elbow backwards with the motion, a self defense tactic that you’d made habit during your training to be a slayer. You feel your flesh connect with something solid, but instead of the telltale shout of pain from your would be assailant, you cry out, cupping your own face as blood starts to gush from your nose.

 

“Oh  _ shit _ , Eli-san!”

 

Honoka comes around to your front, her face a mess of worry and guilt. “I didn’t mean to take you by surprise like that, shit! Let me see.”

 

You straighten from your hunched position, wincing in pain but still withdrawing your hands from your face. Blood is running from your nose and into your mouth, staining your teeth red as you breathe through your mouth due to your newly blocked nasal passages.

 

“I’m positive it’s broken, Honoka.” Your voice sounds weird and nasal and Honoka gives you a wry grin.

 

“I figured, after a hit like that. Man, that sucks, I shouldn’t have done that, I’m sorry. Let’s see what Nozomi-chan can do about this.”

 

She leads you through the house, spouting apologies the whole way which you accept at first and then -- when they become excessive-- you brush them off and assure her that it’s alright. You have one hand cupped under your chin to keep from dripping your blood all over the house, the other caught in a rough grip as Honoka drags you along (you can’t bring yourself to snatch your hand away).

 

She’s pulling you down the hallway away from the living room, past the music room, when Maki bursts out looking frantic.

 

Her pupils are blown and she’s breathing heavily, obviously having smelled the blood and gone into a frenzy. She doesn’t even look like she’s registered that it’s your blood, just the fact that it’s going to quench her thirst and that she wants it.

 

She lunges for you, but Honoka is there, catching her around the waist and holding her as she calls out.

 

“Rin-chan! Kotori-chan! I need your help here for a moment!”

 

There is a brief moment where all you hear is Maki’s frantic struggling and sputtering before you hear Rin scrabbling down the stairs followed by the swift, light steps of Kotori. Rin takes in the scene before them, noting your bloody nose and Maki fighting against Honoka’s grip before moving and taking Maki from Honoka. It astounds you to see someone of Rin’s size holding Maki without much trouble because Maki a more than a head taller than they are.

 

Kotori glances at you and the blood on your face and you can see the slight widening of her pupils as well, but she visibly shakes it off before turning to Rin and Maki.

 

“Rin-chan, would you mind?”

 

You’re confused for a moment before you watch Rin nod and then bring their wrist up to their mouth and bite down, leaving their wrist bleeding from a set of teeth marks before pressing the wound to Maki’s mouth. Maki jerks before her attention is narrowed to only the blood Rin is giving her.

 

Rin still holds her from behind around the waist, but they seem to melt into each other, the tense lines of their bodies moulding together as Maki feeds. They both groan in time with the pulls from Maki’s mouth and you can see the subtle rocking of their hips. Kotori watches on, seemingly unphased by the intimate display, there solely to make sure Maki doesn’t accidentally take too much and kill Rin.

 

You’re standing there, still bleeding from your nose that needs to be set, but transfixed by the scene in front of you. You’ve seen something like it before with Nozomi and Honoka, but up close like this is blowing your mind. To see feeding like this, a consensual, sensual experience rather than the brutal and violent feedings you’ve been accustomed to is jarring to say the least.

 

“Honoka-chan, I’ve got it from here,” Kotori says, drawing you out of your daze. “You should get Eli-san to Nozomi-chan.”

 

It’s just then that you notice that through this whole thing, Honoka has been watching you, observing your reactions. She looks like she wants to say something to you, but she seems to realize that now is not the time.

 

“You’re right, Kotori-chan. Let’s go, Eli-san!”

 

She grabs hold of your wrist again and goes back to dragging you to Nozomi.

 

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 

When you reach the ladder to Nozomi’s room, Honoka stops and call up after her.

 

“Nozomi-chan! We have a problem! Eli-san is hurt!”

 

In a split second there is a loud ruckus from the attic and Nozomi is flitting right in front of you, a panicked look on her face. “What? What do you mean? What happened?”

 

In light of recent events, that probably was not the best way for Honoka to announce your injury to avoid a panic, but it’s what you’ve got with someone like Honoka.

 

“Oh!” Honoka seems surprised by how frantically Nozomi reacted, but can you blame her with what’s happened recently? “It’s nothing major! I surprised her and she hurt herself. Well, she hurt me but y’know, herself.”

 

Nozomi gently takes your face in her hands, turning it side to side and looking at the damage to your nose. From this close you notice her nostrils flare at the scent of your blood, but when you look in her eyes, you see none of the frenzy that you saw with Maki or even interest that sparked for Kotori. But her eyes brim with worry and you’re caught staring into those turquoise depths, falling into a daze as you notice again just how pretty her eyes are, just how pretty she is in general really (from her eyes to her lips to her soft hands to her soft tummy to her thick thighs to her-). At your tangential thoughts you snap yourself out of it, stiffening in her grasp.

 

“It’s definitely broken. This is all my fault with the collar, fuck, I’m sorry Elichi.”

 

She feels you stiffen but plays it off like she doesn’t, speaking instead on your nose. The guilt in her voice is palpable and you can’t help by try to assuage it, “It’s what was necessary for the safety of your family, I understand. Though maybe less so now?”

 

She gives you a rueful smile, “So it seems.” She releases your face and turns toward the ladder. “Come up here and let’s get it set and give you something to heal it up.”

 

“Nozomi-chan will take good care of you from here, Eli-san!” You had almost forgotten that Honoka was there, with how oddly quiet she had been. “I’ll go see if Kotori-chan is done with Maki-chan and Rin-chan yet, see if she wants to hang out.”

 

“Thank you for taking me here, Honoka. Sorry about almost breaking your nose.”

 

She laughs, “No worries, Eli-san, it was mostly my fault anyway. You’ll be fixed up in no time under Nozomi-chan’s care. See you later!”

 

She runs off and leaves you with Nozomi who is currently half way up the ladder, giving you an unhindered view of her thigh highs (something she seems to always be wearing) leading up to the tiny flash of color you catch under her skirt before you force your eyes away. This is definitely not the time for you to be perving on Nozomi.

 

Following behind quickly, you find yourself back in her room, her worktable more of a mess than you remember, but that would explain the clamor you heard before she came down. She leads you over to her workstation and pulls out a chair from seemingly nowhere.

 

“Take a seat and let me have a look.”

 

You sit but raise a hand when she approaches, “This isn’t the first time I’ve broken my nose, Nozomi. I can set it.”

 

She waits patiently, not commenting on your little show of stubborn independence, only watching as you steel yourself to do this. You take a deep, steadying breath to brace yourself for the pain of what you’re about to do, but you know it’s a necessary evil. You reach up, trying not to wince as you grab your fractured nose and roughly push it back into its intended position. The pain radiates out, and you curse loudly, breathing heavily as you pull your hands away for a moment.

 

“Is it straight?” you say on a heavy breath.

 

She comes closer, peering seriously at your face. “Just about, hold on.”

 

You watch as she crosses the room and rifles around in a cupboard before returning with a q-tip. “Let’s make sure your nasal passages aren’t obstructed.”

 

Kneeling in front of your seated form, she slowly raises her hands to your face, giving you plenty of time to stop her if you wanted. You’re in no shape to deny help, really, and you’re too busy trying to control your jumping pulse from having a pretty girl kneeling between your legs to do anything. She pushes the q-tip up each nostril, making sure that they’re clear and that the bleeding has stopped. She eyes the dried blood on your face, but doesn't react outwardly and you find that you aren’t worried that she might attack you. You find that you might actually feel at ease around her, vampire and all.

 

“It was a clean break; you seem all set, now let’s get you something that’ll heal you right up.”

 

You relax back into your seat, glad that you don’t have to attempt to set it a second time. Once you had broken it on a mission and with the mess of a fracture it took four tries to set it properly. Nozomi goes over to one of her bookshelves, reaching up and coming back with a large, unlabeled bottle.

 

“This is a special potion that I make myself, it’s what i gave Nicocchi after she fed Maki-chan. I give it to anyone after they feed one of us, it heals them nearly instantly.”

 

You eye the bottle suspiciously, but you honestly can’t deny the offer of instant relief from the throbbing on your face and Nozomi has proven to be trustworthy after the whole buying you thing. “I’ll drink it, but only if you show me what’s in it and how to make it. Deal?”

 

Her gaze shifts nervously but she takes a breath and nods firmly, “Deal.”

 

She pours you about a shot’s worth of the nearly black substance and hands it to you without a word. It has no smell really but the dark color and thick consistency make it less than appetizing. But if it’ll help, you have no choice. You knock it back, noting the earthy taste. It has a flavor like you just took a mouthful of dirt at the park mixed with a slight metallic aftertaste. Not the best thing, but still not the worst thing you’ve ever tasted.

 

The effects are immediate. The pain in your nose intensifies for a moment, centered on the break, before it disappears. The swelling on and around your nose lessens until the only evidence of the break is another slight bump on the bridge of your nose and the dried blood that you’ve all but forgotten on your face and neck. You’re in awe.

 

“N-Nozomi, that’s amazing!”

 

“Yes, well,” she sounds anxious, “You might not like it as much when you find out what’s in it.”

 

“Wait, what do you mean?”

 

Instead of answering, she walks over to her worktable, to her hot plate and the large pot she has. She turns on the hot plate, adjusting the temperature before going to her cupboards and coming back with an armful of bottles. As she’s adding things to the pot, she details the recipe.

 

“There are plenty of herbs that have healing properties. White willow bark, aloe vera, woodruff, echinacea,” she adds each as she speaks. “And they are all well and good, but they’re not what makes the potion so powerful.”

 

At this point, you’ve stood up and made your way over to her side, gazing into the pot that hold all the herbs and heats them. You’re curious as to where she’s going with this and why it has her so on edge. You hold your tongue and allow her to continue on with her speech, wiping the dried blood from your face with your sleeve absentmindedly.

 

“Did you know that vampire blood is said to have healing properties? Well, it should be obvious from the way we can heal ourselves, but no one really realizes that it can benefit others as well.”

 

She meets your eyes meaningfully at that and with a quick flash of silver in the corner of your eye, Nozomi has produced a knife and put a clean gash on her wrist.

 

“Nozomi! What are you doing?!”

 

You reach for her hand, but she uses her now free one to hold you at bay. She shows no outward reaction to the cut on her wrist, only holding it above the pot and letting her blood fall into the mix of herbs. After a few moments where you watch on, horrified, she has deemed it enough and pulls her arm back, running her tongue along the cut to close it and lick up her blood (you hate you admit that watching her tongue play over her skin affects you just a bit).

 

She only speaks when all her blood has been lapped up and she has started to mix the potion brewing in the pot, “My blood is what makes it so potent. I’m a very powerful vampire, Elichi, my blood is strong, stronger than that of most vampires. But the healing properties are true for all vampires, that’s why the rumors about it must stay rumors. I’m trusting you with this.”

 

You nod dumbly, still stunned from watching her slit her own wrist.

 

Her focus drops to the pot, mixing it slowly and watching it start to bubble before adjusting the heat. You can’t help but speak up.

 

“So you do this all the time? Hurt yourself to make this?”

 

She locks eyes with you, “My friends give their blood so that I may live, this little bit of my own is the least I can do.”

 

When she puts it like that, you can understand it, you even respect her for it. But at the mention of feeding, it brings your mind back to what you’ve seen, from Nico and Maki, to Nozomi and Honoka, and to Rin and Maki today. The way that feeding is done here, as a pleasurable act and you’re curious.

 

“What-” you clear your throat, “What does it feel like? Feeding, I mean.”

 

She glances at you, probably to see if you’re serious, before setting the pot to a simmer and giving you her full attention and moving closer.

 

“Well, I can’t tell you from the donor’s perspective, but I can tell you how it feels for me, the taker.” You shiver at how her voice has lowered. “It feels so good, Elichi, you’re so thirsty  _ all the time _ , right until you feed. The taste -- it’s ambrosia. And when you swallow? God, it’s like a fresh infusion of life, like your entire body was asleep -- numb -- right until you feed. It’s  _ orgasmic _ .” She’s so close now, whispering the words into your ear and you can’t remember when you bent down to allow this. “And we can make it feel like that for the donor too. Our saliva in the bite causes a similar sensation in the donor. That’s why for most of us, it turns into a sexual experience, the pleasure is just so overwhelming.”

 

She’s pressed to your front, face just a hair’s breadth from your throat, and you can hear your own heavy breathing. She moves forward just that little bit and suddenly you feel her tongue press into your skin, dragging across the sensitive flesh. You jerk toward her hard at the sensation and you hear her groan loudly before she shivers violently against you. It’s then that you realize she’s just licked the dried blood from your neck and you can’t hold in your own whimper.

 

“So good,” she breathes into your neck and you can’t restrain yourself any longer.

  
Burying one hand in her hair to pull her face up, you kiss her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOOOOO, they did the kissy kissy, yes, it gay, made it gay as a gift for y'all, you're welcome  
> hope you enjoyed, catch y'all later and all that, comment if you want or find me you know where, yolo  
> have fun bros, peace out


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my god, you guys were too nice the all the birthday wishes lmao, seriously, love all y'all  
> but you might not love me after this, sorry friends
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING: blood (more than before), severe injury (sorry)

The kiss is flavored with your blood.

 

The last remnants from your bloody nose that stained your teeth and coated your mouth leave Nozomi moaning into your mouth and arching into you. You pull her in closer, the hand in her hair angling her head so that you can deepen the kiss and your other arm winding around her waist, gripping her hip and moulding her body to yours.

 

“Ah,  _ Elichi _ ,” she gasps against your lips, hands coming up to rest on your shoulders.

 

Her sounds of pleasure just excite you further, your hand coming away from her hair and falling to her other hip and then both hands falling down to her ass, grabbing hold and hoisting her up. She moans into your mouth again as she wraps her legs around you, plush thighs pressing into your hips as she starts to move her body against yours. Her hands start to run up from your shoulders to curl around the back of your neck, but her fingers collide with the collar and stop her progress.

 

“Mmm,” she pulls away quickly with a displeased sound, “Wait, let me get this off of you.”

 

You smirk and let your lips drift down to her neck, nipping gently, “I want to get  _ everything  _ off of you.”

 

She giggles, “Soon, Elichi. Now hold still for a moment.”

 

Her hands grip onto the collar, tugging you closer still and kissing the skin above it before whispering something into the leather. You see a bright pulse of light in the corner of your eye, and then she is taking the collar off, tossing it across the room. Your neck feels bare without it, having gotten used to wearing it for the couple of weeks you've been here, but you don't have much time to ponder it before Nozomi is running her lips up to your ear.

 

“What was that about getting everything off of me?”

 

You surge forward, turning your head to capture her lips in a kiss while you stumble your way toward her mattress. Her breathy moans cause heat to surge in you, settling between your legs as fervid arousal. You can feel Nozomi’s echoing arousal as she grinds her center against your abs, forming a damp spot on your shirt from how wet she is.

 

Once your feet hit her futon, you drop to your knees on top of it before you lay her back with you on top, never once breaking your frantic kiss.

 

Her hands clutch at the back of your shirt, tugging and bunching the material in her hands, inching it up with every pull. You struggle for breath in your passionate embrace, pulling back reluctantly to allow yourself room to breathe, but Nozomi just takes the opportunity to kiss along your jaw and nip at your neck.

 

“Nozomi,” you groan under her ministrations, grinding your body down into hers, trying to minimize the space between you, to get as close to her as possible.

 

The hands at your back become impatient, moving to the collar of the shirt and tearing it right down the back as easily as if it were wet paper. Your gasp at the action is lost as you turn your head to bury it in the crook of her neck.

 

“Elichi,” her voice sounds breathless even though she technically doesn’t need to breathe, “is this alright?”

 

“God yes,” you groan, moving your hands so they glide up to just under her breasts, “Is this?”

 

She nods frantically, one hand coming to grab yours and put it on her breast. The soft mound of flesh feels amazing, round and full. You groan as you move your hands on her, head falling to her chest so you can watch your hands as they massage her sensitive flesh through her shirt.

 

The feel of her pliant flesh underneath you is intoxicating and you find your breath coming in pants against her throat. She is so responsive, arching into your touch and voicing her approval of your actions with moans and groans into your ears. You’ve never felt need like this before, the burning and aching urge to get closer to her and give her pleasure is threatening to consume you.

 

All you want to do is lavish every inch of her body with attention, to unleash the full extent of your passion on the willing flesh beneath you.

 

One of your hands is just drifting up her thigh under her skirt when there is a shout from downstairs.

 

“Nozomi! Are you ready to leave yet?! I’m sick of waiting already!”

 

You jolt apart, startled by the shout. You recognize it as Nico and you look at Nozomi questioningly.

 

“I forgot,” she sighs, “I promised to go with Nicocchi, Rin-chan, and Hanayo-chan into town today. I’m sorry, Elichi.”

 

“Ah, no no,” you sit up on your knees to give her room to sit up as well. “It’s totally fine,  I mean, I would love to continue this, but this is fine… ”

 

You trail off because as you got off of her, the shirt that Nozomi had torn all the way up the back had slipped from your shoulders and pooled around your waist. Both of your eyes fall to your now only bra-clad chest and you flush a bright red right down to your baby pink sports bra. There is a tense moment of silence before the two of you burst into fits of giggles.

 

Nozomi nearly snorts, “I think you’re going to need a new shirt before you leave here though.”

 

She sits herself up, still under you and takes you by surprise with a brief peck to the lips before maneuvering herself out from under you and off the futon. She crosses the room to one of her cabinets and opens it to reveal a messy collection of clothes. After a second of digging around, she comes back and offers you the shirt she’d found.

 

“I have to go now, wouldn’t want to keep Nicocchi waiting any longer. Be sure to pull the hatch closed when you leave, alright?”

 

Not waiting for your response, she presses a kiss to your cheek quickly and in the next second she is gone, having used her vampire speed to flit out of the room.

 

Once she’s gone, you fall back onto her futon with a sigh. You don’t regret what you just did with her and you definitely would have liked to go farther, but you think you might be taking things too fast. In the heat of the moment, you’d lost sight of the big picture. You’ve only just recently found yourself getting closer with Nozomi and the other people in the house and jumping into bed with Nozomi now when you haven’t even properly gotten to know her after the unfortunate way you came to know each other doesn’t seem like the best decision for you right now, especially not with the recent threat hanging over your heads. You would not have regretted having sex with Nozomi, but at the same time, you’re a bit grateful that you were interrupted before things could go too far.

 

Rising from her bed, you slip the borrowed shirt over your head, noting how it smells of Nozomi’s odd combination of old books and herbs and taking a deep breath of her scent.

 

You blush at your action, even though there’s no one there to see it. Shaking your head at yourself, you descend from her room, not forgetting to close the hatch once you’re part way down the ladder. You start to make your way back to where you were reading to retrieve your book and maybe continue reading when you run into Kotori and Umi.

 

“Eli-chan!” Kotori chirps, (calling you more informally is a more recent development and you can’t say that you mind).

 

You nod to them both, “What are you two up too? Are Rin and Maki alright after earlier?”

 

“Oh, yes, they’re fine, once Maki-chan had a bit of blood, she calmed down. She didn’t even take that much from Rin-chan and then they were fine to go out with Nico-chan, Hanayo-chan, and Nozomi-chan. Maki-chan went with Honoka-chan out on patrol. Umi-chan and I were just about to go for a walk out in the gardens and then to the shrine. Would you like to join us?”

 

Shooting a quick glance at Umi to make sure that you’re not going to be inserting yourself into their private time together and getting a subtle nod in return, you turn your attention back to Kotori’s kind smile and respond.

 

“I would love too, Kotori. Wouldn’t want to waste this beautiful day.”

 

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 

And a beautiful day it is. Once you’re outside, walking beside Kotori with Umi on her other side, you can feel the light breeze that carries the pleasant aroma of the different flowers that are thriving in their well kept garden. The sun shines down, bright but not stifling, providing warmth but not an overbearing heat.

 

You walk in comfortable silence for a bit, taking in the garden and the scenery for a while before you start to approach the treeline.

 

“Where is this shrine you mentioned earlier, Kotori?”

 

She continues to lead you into the woods and once you pass into the shade created by the canopy of the trees, you can’t help but shiver, but you put it off to the loss of direct sunlight.

 

“The shrine is pretty deep in the forest on the property. Nozomi-chan had helped to keep this shrine when she was human and when my mother turned her, Mama acquired all the land so that she wouldn’t have to displace Nozomi-chan and she had the house built not too far.”

 

Kotori’s high voice travels well in the copse of trees, but once she stops talking, you can’t help but think that the forest is unusually quiet for the middle of the day. You’re not usually one to ignore your instincts, so you catch Umi’s attention, not wanting to alarm Kotori.

 

“Are you getting a weird feeling, Umi? Something just doesn’t feel right to me,” you whisper to her while you have the two of you fall back a bit from Kotori.

 

She nods at you solemnly, “Yes, I feel it too. I think we should head back to the house…”

 

You turn to call out to Kotori, “Koto-”

 

An agonized cry cuts you off.

 

Umi rushes forward, already recognizing a second before you that the cry came from Kotori, and grunts in pain not a moment later. You give chase, coming out into a cleaning in front of a small shrine only to find Kotori laid out on the ground with a large spike through her stomach and Umi cradling her head on her lap with one hand while the other puts pressure on a gash bleeding on her leg.

 

“Kotori! Umi!”

 

Scrambling forward frantically, you drop to your knees at their sides, “What happened?!”

 

You want to focus on the two injured women before you, but you keep your eyes moving, flitting between the trees and noticing the small gate around the shrine and how one of the metal posts was torn out and it’s probably sticking out of Kotori right now. You see a shadow pass quickly between two trees and you jump into a fighting stance only to hear a low laugh and a phrase on the wind before the shadow is gone.

 

“Tell her,  _ he  _ soon will rise… ”

 

You watch for more movement or a new threat, but when nothing moves for a long moment and you hear Kotori whimper in pain, you turn back to them and drop to your knees again.

 

“Eli…” you’ve never heard Umi’s voice softer or more worried, “They came out of nowhere. It was just one person, when I got to Kotori, they lashed out at me so quickly, I couldn’t even get a look at them. Fuck, she needs blood.”

 

Her amber gaze falls to the trembling body in front of her but yours falls to the blood still flowing from the wound on her thigh.

 

“Umi, you’re losing too much blood. You can’t feed her right now, you’ll die.”

 

“If I don’t  _ she’ll  _ die,” she snarls back at you.

 

You glance down at the metal protruding from Kotori’s abdomen and her pained, pale face and you come to a split second decision.

  
“I’ll feed her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah, so...
> 
> anyway, I've just stared up back at college so updates might come late or more sporadically with all the shit I've gotta do, and i also have other projects that have to get finished soon, so sorry in advance lmao
> 
> catch y'all later, peace out


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyo, i'm super sorry for the wait, but with school and all and other shit i've got going on, i can't promise the next chaper will come much sooner than this one, so forgive me  
> you guys have been super great and supportive of this story, i literally love you all, like seriously  
> thank you for being so patient with me and this, so, y'know, sendin you all my gay feelings and all
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING:  
> blood, gore i think, wounds, idk, that's it...

"What?"

 

Umi looks at you sharply, surprised at your words. 

 

You glance once more at the large chunk of metal sticking out of Kotori, how she looks worse and worse by the second, and you steel yourself with a deep breath (the stench of blood sticking in your nostrils and almost making you nauseous) and meet Umi’s eyes with a steady gaze.

 

“I’ll feed her.”

 

Umi looks as if she wants to continue questioning you, but a whimper from Kotori snaps her mouth firmly shut on whatever she was going to say.

 

“U-Umi-chan, it’s alright-” she is cut off with a cough, a trickle of blood coming from her lips, “I-I think I can make it home.”

 

Kotori’s voice is weak and soft, nothing like the sweet confident voice you’re used to and it only fortifies your resolve in helping her.

 

You put a hand on Umi’s shoulder to get her attention, “Tell me how to do this. She needs this.”

 

Umi looks panicked for a split second before she forces an impassive mask back over her features.

 

“First, you need to pull the metal out of her. She won’t be able to heal and close the wound if it’s still in her.”

 

The two of you drop your eyes to the post in Kotori’s abdomen and you feel queasy for a moment. You’ve done your fair share of staking and stabbing, but you’ve never particularly enjoyed looking at gory things. And now you’re going to be pulling a metal post out of someone who you’ve recently been thinking of as a friend. Not your idea of a good time in the slightest.

 

Nodding and taking a deep breath, you position yourself firmly next to Kotori, getting ready to quickly grab and remove the metal on Umi’s command.

 

Umi keeps pressure on her leg wound but still looks deathly focus despite her own pains, “Once the metal is out, she’ll lose blood more quickly. You’re going to have to be quick about feeding her. I know this will be the first time you do this, and it will be a bit overwhelming, but you just have to relax into the feeling. Even in this state, Kotori will make it good for you. And you’ll be saving her life. Are you ready?”

 

She looks so serious and the situation is dire and you can feel the nervous feeling sitting heavy in your stomach, not only for what you’re about to do, but worry for Kotori’s life. 

 

You nod at Umi. Umi nods in return.

 

Kotori cries out as you get a hold of the metal and you have to force yourself to push forward even though you want to stop and not cause her any more pain. You muster up all your strength and with a sickening squelch, the metal comes free in a spurt of blood and viscera. You want to gag at the sight of the gaping hole, the view into Kotori’s abdominal cavity, but you swallow hard and quickly maneuver Kotori’s head out of Umi’s lap and into yours.

 

“I just let her bite me?”

 

You glance at Umi for direction and she’s already flashing a hand forward, grasping your wrist and pulling it toward Kotori’s mouth, meeting your eyes before dropping her gaze to Kotori’s pained and teary eyes.

 

“Kotori. Drink.”

 

There is a quick flash of pain, the initial feeling of her teeth sinking into your flesh, tearing right through your skin as if it were paper and digging in before pulling back and the odd sensation of sucking. You know that she’s taking your blood right now, that she is drinking down your life force, but you feel a sudden warmth flash through you. It tingles, a pleasurable shiver wracking your body and causing you to curl forward around her. The heated sensation settles within you, most of it between your legs and you find that you’re becoming aroused by this. Whatever Kotori is doing while she feeds is turning you on in a way you’ve never experienced before. 

 

With each pull of her mouth, waves of sensation flow through you and you can hear distant moans but you can’t figure out if they’re yours or Kotori’s. You’ve all but forgotten that Umi is even there with you until she tries to step in.

 

“Eli, you need to focus now, we have to get her to stop.”

 

You’re lost in the heady sensation, the sexual high that you’re getting from this clouding your mind to the point that you can’t focus on what Umi is saying to you even though you know it sounds urgent.

 

“Eli! If we don’t stop her she’ll drain you.”

 

But you don’t want to stop. It feels so good, too good. If she stops now, the good feeling will go away and you’ll have to go back to being sad and  _ not  _ feeling this good. If you’d have known that a vampire’s bite felt this good, you’d have let Nozomi do it way before this.

 

Wait.

 

Nozomi.

 

You have to get back to her. You have to tell her what happened, you have to warn her. If you let Kotori keep drinking, you won’t be able to get back to her and she’ll be in danger and she might be hurt.

 

“Eli! You’ll die!”

 

Straightening quickly, your eyes clear and meet Umi’s amber gaze. She looks frantic and now that you’re aware, you feel how weak you’ve gotten and you feel a bit dizzy. You immediately reach down toward where Kotori still has her mouth latched onto your wrist, sucking eagerly. You quickly cast a glance at her stomach to see that the wound has nearly completely knit itself back together, much to your amazement.

 

“Kotori, I need you to stop now,’ you say urgently as you grab her jaw, “you’re better now. You have to stop now.”

 

Umi reaches over and smoothes Kotori’s hair out of her face with surprising tenderness for someone so stern and Kotori lets out a quiet whimper before opening her mouth and releasing your arm. A streak of blood falls from her lips and down her chin as she focuses on licking at your wound, helping the puncture to stop bleeding. Her tongue on your skin is like a lash of fire, exhilarating yet fleeting, the ecstasy short lived as Umi guides her away.

 

When she is removed from you completely, sitting up on her own even while she grips at her stomach, you feel cold, bare, empty. You shiver at the loss, the sensation of wanting her mouth back on your skin. A vampire’s bite has proven to be more potent that you’d thought and you think that the sensation might be addicting. You already feel yourself wanting more of her touch even though you know you’ve lost more blood that you should’ve at this point. You try to shake off the thoughts of the experience, but it’s hard, even when you know you have to focus on getting Umi and Kotori back to the house with them both in weakened states.

 

You stumble to your feet, a bit shaky but stable enough before you turn to the still bleeding Umi.

 

“We need to get you back to the house and get that leg looked at. Do you think you can walk while leaning on me?”

 

Umi nods resolutely, face impassive but eyes showing pain as you help her upright and throw her arm over your shoulders to keep her up. She hisses in pain when she tries to put weight on her injured leg and you see the blood dripping down from her thigh at a worrisome pace and you know you need to get a move on.

 

“Kotori,” you call to the girl still on the ground, “we need to get Umi to the house, I need you to try to get up now.”

 

When Kotori looks up at you, her eyes are pained and she can’t hold you gaze for long, her eyes compulsively darting to the blood on Umi’s thigh. She still looks paler than usual, and you can see plain as day on her face that she wants to continue feeding, not the wild thirst like Maki’s but definitely not the stern control that Nozomi has shown. After all the blood she lost, you can bet that she needs more to be fully satisfied, and she is probably used to drinking Umi’s blood, but now is not the time and you need all the help you can get to make sure that you all get back to the house safely.

 

“Kotori,” your voice is hard, “I need you to focus here. If you can’t stay here with Umi bleeding right now, I need you to go ahead to the house and tell someone that we need help out here. Can you do that for us?”

 

She whimpers a bit, but nods, jumping to her feet in a flash and darting out of the clearing and back toward the house. You release a sigh of relief before turning back to Umi, who is looking worse than a minute ago. The wound must be deeper than you thought.

 

“Hey! Umi, I need you to stay awake for me now, we’re going to walk to the house and you’ll be just fine. C’mon, talk to me, tell me something. Tell be how you came to live with these people, anything, c’mon.”

 

You give her a gentle shake as you start your painful trek back toward the house, making her jolt her head up and then rest it against yours.

 

“Um…” she clears her throat a bit, “I’ve lived there for a very long time.” She pauses again until you jostle her again, “The Sonoda clan has served Miss Minami for centuries, the first borns going to serve her personally as protection, Nozomi by extension and now Kotori as well. Miss Minami saved our family a very long time ago, and to repay our debt, we’ve paid with our service. I was trained from a young age to protect and serve them, and when it came time for me to take up my post, Kotori was the same age and we became close. We’re all very close in the house…”

 

Her voice gets weaker and she trails off, breathing shallow as you try to hurry the two of you along. You can’t have her dying on you, you can’t lose anyone else. Not now, you wouldn’t be able to bear it.

 

“No, no, Umi, stay strong, we’re almost there. C’mon, Umi, don’t do this.”

 

Increasing your pace, you shuffle along, still weakened from feeding and Umi’s dead weight is not helping. You can only hope that Kotori has already reached the house and has gotten help because you’re not sure Umi will make it much longer here with you.

 

But just as you’re beginning to feel the panic rise in your gut, you hear heavy footfalls approaching. You brace yourself against a tree, readying yourself for another attack -- this time, you will not be caught unawares and let your friend be further injured. You keep your eyes trained to the trees, scanning for a threat, when a large mass of orange fur tumbles out of the thicket in front of you, breathing heavy and eyes frantic. You nearly go boneless in relief when you recognize the beast as Honoka and you shuffle toward her with Umi as fast as you can.

 

“Oh thank god,” you sigh, “You need to rush her home and help her, I don’t know how bad the cut is but she’s passing out and we haven’t properly stopped the bleeding.”

 

Honoka nods her massive head and moves toward you to grab Umi from you. She’s standing on her back legs so that she can properly cradle Umi to her chest and she looks odd not stooping over, but you know she’ll be able to get Umi home faster than you will. She eyes you for a moment before gesturing to her behind her vaguely and turning a bit, probably wanting you to climb on her back.

 

“Oh, no, I’ll just slow you down. I can make it on my own, just hurry and help Umi.”

 

The beast looks at you seriously for a moment before leaning forward and licking you. You rear back at the feel of her long wet tongue across your face and you can swear that she smirks before turning and running off toward the house with Umi clutched close to her furry chest.

 

You sigh heavily and you can swear that you feel a huge weight resting on your shoulders, but you plod forward, continuing your trek back to the house.

 

You have to get back to tell Nozomi.  _ He soon will rise _ .

 

Great.

  
You could really use a nap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright, so, i'll see you guys next time hopefully, whenever that is and you know where to find me if you got something to say by now, but imma drop my url anyway cause i love attention, but i'm mostly memes, steven universe, and overwatch over there ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> genderqueermusketeer.tumblr.com


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, so. been a year and i wanna say i can explain, but this impromptu hiatus is just because of faults in my own character (i've been distracted by a ton of things and also i procrastinate literally everything so) lmao  
> but i recently had someone really nice ask me about this fic and it made me realize how long it's actually been (i've had this chapter half written and open on my computer for A WHILE now and so i hadn't noticed how much time had passed between updates) so i reread the whole thing and i was like, yo hell yeah, i loved writing this and i kinda love this and it's my baby and i gotta keep going  
> so here i am, having blasted through writing the rest of this chapter instead of doing one of my many essays for my classes and here it is, hope y'all are still in it and you enjoy  
> also, i didn't really reread this much or edit so if something is super messed up or doesn't make sense, lemme know

Stumbling back toward the house is taking longer than you’d like. The blood loss has left you weak, tired, and you could really go for a big meal right now. At the thought of food, your stomach growls but a wave of nausea passes over you at the same time. You pause for a moment, leaning on a tree to collect yourself. You probably should have taken Honoka up on her offer to take you back to the house, but Umi is the priority right now and you can handle yourself. Even if it takes you a while.

 

The sun is beginning to fall on the horizon, evening coming faster than you are able to make your way back. A sliver of fear crawls its way up your spine; it will be dark soon and besides your usual level of fear, there is something out here that has tried to kill Kotori and injured Umi still roaming around. The threat of harm looming, added to childhood fear has your breathing just a touch quicker than normal and your arms wrapped around yourself as you walk.

 

As a slayer, you’ve had to compartmentalize your fear of the dark in order to do your job, but in your time in Nozomi’s home, you’ve become complacent. You haven’t had to go on a hunt or face the darkness like this in weeks, and you’ve nearly forgotten the fear that takes you, creeping up on you so suddenly that it leaves you paralyzed. 

 

_ No _ . You won’t let this fear consume you again.

 

You take a deep breath, counting the seconds of your inhale and then your exhale to stave off the panic that you feel rising. Your main goal is getting back to the house without incident, you just need to keep yourself collected until you get there.

 

You forge forward, eyes always moving and scanning for a threat. You move from tree to tree, using them for support. The leaves and twigs on the ground make your footsteps loud to your ears and you wish you had more energy to put into making your steps quieter. You don't know what's still out there in the woods and you want to draw as little attention to yourself as possible.

 

The lightheaded feeling you have is getting worse and you know that even though the bleeding is stopped, this exertion is not doing you any good. You need to rest. Maybe Kotori did take a little too much.

 

With a groan, you sink down to the ground, back getting scrapped by the rough bark of the tree you were using for support as it rubs through your shirt.

 

You'll just sit here for a moment, just to catch your breath for a second before you get going again. You tilt your head back, gazing up at the darkening sky. You feel that shot of panic shoot up your spine again at the realization that the darkness of night is quickly approaching, but your mind is so fuzzy at this point that it doesn't settle in with you like it usually would. That should be a warning to you, but that also doesn't really stick with you long. You must be passing out. Huh.

 

Staring up through the canopy of leaves, you relax further, letting the darkness creeping upon your vision take a firmer hold on your consciousness. The cool breeze rustles the leaves and flows through your hair, further soothing you. Maybe a quick nap is in order. It'll give you the rest you need to make it back to the house. Yeah. Your mother would probably scold you for sleeping outside at the risk of catching a cold or falling prey to whatever lurks in the dark, but she's not here right now. You'll be fine here, whatever hurt Kotori and Umi is probably far off by now, you're safe. No worries.

 

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 

You're moving, which is odd because you have a blurry recollection of distinctly not moving last time you checked. You're still not completely conscious, but you move your head a bit from where it is resting against something that feels distinctly person shaped.

 

Your vision is hazy and you're still weak, but you catch a glimpse of pale skin, green eyes, and a flash of brunette hair before your head falls back onto their shoulder.

 

"Ah," you hear from the person carrying you, "I couldn't have you dying out there without delivering my message now could I? But don't worry, you won't remember this."

 

The world fades out again.

 

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

 

When you are awoken fully, you're on the back porch of Nozomi's house. You're not sure how you got there and there is a flash in your mind of sharp emerald, but anything else flees your mind before you can grasp it, as intangible and flighty as wisps of smoke.

 

You groan lowly as you work you way into a more upright position, one hand supporting your upper body and the other cradling your still groggy head. Your mouth feels like it’s full of cotton and you’d kill for a glass of water, but you need to get inside for that.

 

Bracing yourself for the effort it’s going to take to stand, you push yourself up. You stumble a bit, but before you can fall back on your ass, strong hands are around your waist to catch you.

 

“Whoa there,” Honoka says as she catches you, “I’ve got you, Eli-chan.”

 

She easily supports your heavier frame, leading you into the house and toward the den. As you pass the kitchen, you see Kotori, more composed now than before, tending to Umi. Umi is laid out on the dining table where you all usually take your meals (you can’t help but cringe a little at that, even in your groggy state. You sincerely hope that they thoroughly sanitize that table before the next meal time). Umi looks to be in better shape than when you last saw her, more color in her cheeks even though she seems to be currently unconscious. Kotori is dressing the wound on her leg, smaller and no longer bleeding to the extent that it was before, obviously the work of Nozomi's potion. 

 

Sighing in relief at seeing both Kotori and Umi alive, though a little worse for wear, you allow Honoka to continue leading you. She sets you gently on one of the couches before dashing off back toward the kitchen. When she returns, she's got about half a shot's worth of the black potion in one hand and a bottle of water and packaged sweetbread in the other.

 

"You should take all this," she says, "I heard from Kotori-chan what you did for her, what with feeding her and everything after she was hurt and you definitely need this."

 

You gratefully accept the offering knocking back the potion and then quickly tearing into the treat. Honoka laughs a bit at how voraciously you attack the food but she sobers quickly.

 

"I need to thank you, Eli-chan," she starts, more serious than you've ever heard her, "if it weren't for you, my closest friend if it weren't for you, my closest friends could have died today. I don't know what I would've done if that happened. So, thank you."

 

Honoka is so earnest, her words so emphatic and full of feeling with her admission, that you're not sure how you should react. She's brutally honest and so thankful that all you can do is meet her steady and open gaze with an equally serious look, nodding your acceptance of her thanks, at a loss for words.

 

The two of you sit in silence for a while as you work your way through your snack and the whole bottle of water, listening to the subdued sounds from the kitchen as Kotori finishes up with Umi's leg, until you need to break it.

 

"Have you contacted Nozomi and the others?"

 

She nods, "I called them and they're on their way back. They would run, but Nozomi-chan and Rin-chan couldn't just leave Nico-chan and Hanayo-chan. Maki-chan is up in her room, Kotori-chan told her to stay up there while we take care of Umi-chan so she wouldn't be affected that much by the blood. We really can't have her giving in to her bloodlust right now."

 

“When do you think Umi will be better?” you ask, “She already seems leagues better than she was when you took her from me, it can’t be long now, right?”

 

Honoka glances back toward the kitchen, “After another dose or two, the wound should be sealed up and she should be strong enough to get up again and then she’ll probably be good as new by tomorrow as long as she gets a good meal and then rests up.” She turns back toward you, “You didn’t happen to see what it was that attacked you guys out there, did you? I know Kotori-chan said she and Umi-chan didn’t see anything, but I was hoping maybe you caught a glimpse of something, so that we have an idea what’s out there, what we’re up against.”

 

You think back, trying your hardest to remember. You can feel something niggling at the back of your mind, something that you know could be important resting just out of reach. All you can remember is the initial shadow between the trees by the shrine, the whisper, your attempt to stumble back to the house, and then waking up on the porch. You know for a fact that you sat down to rest in the forest, that you didn’t make it back to the house on your own, but for the life of you, you can’t remember how you got back.

 

Sadly shaking your head, you reply, “I’m sorry, I don’t know what it was that attacked us, but I think it might have helped me get back to the house. Or something else, maybe? I can’t be certain.”

 

At that, Honoka’s eyes turn keen, full focus now directed on you, “What do you mean by that, Eli-chan?”

 

“I just-” you start before cutting yourself off, “After Kotori fed from me, I was weak. She took a lot, and walking that distance with Umi took all the energy that I had left. I was trying to get back to the house on my own after you took her, but I sat down to rest and I think I passed out. Next thing I remember, I’m waking up on the porch and you’re helping me up. I think someone or some _ thing _ brought me back to the house.”

 

“But why would they do that?” Honoka sounds truly puzzled, “They just attacked Kotori-chan  _ and _ Umi-chan, and they obviously didn’t care whether they lived or died, you would have been an easy target. Oh, uh, no offense.”

 

“None taken,” you shoot her a quick wry smile, “What if this was all a message? Like Keiren. Whoever or  _ what _ ever this is is trying to send a message. I remember, by the shrine, when I saw the shadow in the trees where Kotori and Umi were hurt, I heard something. I think they wanted me to deliver that message, and hurting everyone was just to show that they  _ could _ .”

 

“Well what was it? What did they say?” Honoka is leaning very close as she asks, hanging on your every word.

 

But before you can tell her, the front door bursts open, Nozomi, Nico, Hanayo, and Rin scrambling into the house. They all start talking at once, trying to figure out exactly what happened, but Honoka stands up and shouts.

 

“Everyone  _ shut up _ ! This is important!” she turns back to you, a little stunned and still seated, her voice urgent, “What did they say, Eli-chan?”

 

You look up at her before your eyes drift to Nozomi and lock onto hers.

 

“They said,” you whisper, your voice traveling in the tense stillness of the room and your blue eyes boring into intense turquoise, “He soon will rise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY, i wanna say updates will pick up more normally again now, but as i've mentioned, i've got a shit ton of school work to do right about now. i sincerely plan to update more now and write more like before, but try not to get your hopes up for regular degular updates, they'll still come because i'm now super hype to write this again, but not as regularly as they did back in the day lmao  
> y'all still know where to find me on tumblr and shit or drop shit here, see ya

**Author's Note:**

> if you're down here, thanks for getting this far, feedback is nice- opinions, headcanons, praise- i'm p friendly and you can find me at genderqueermusketeer.tumblr.com
> 
> more of this to come soon-ish, probably *finger guns*


End file.
